Big changes underway at two of Ireland Olympic powerhouse bodies

Irish Examiner

06-05-2025

Major changes are afoot at two of the Olympic sports that, between them, delivered five of Ireland's seven medals at last year's Paris Games.
Jon Rudd, whose eight years as Swim Ireland's National Performance Director produced a huge upsurge in performances and medals at European, World and Olympic levels, is moving on to pastures new.
The swimming programme was already beginning to blossom by the time Rudd moved over from the UK in January of 2027, but 46 podium places were claimed across major junior and senior championships from his appointment up to the last Olympics.
Ireland's swim team claimed three more in the French capital last summer with Daniel Wiffen contributing a gold and a bronze in two distance events while Mona McSharry chimed in with a bronze in the women's 100m breaststroke.
Other high points during Rudd's tenure were Ireland's first World Championships medals and the first ever swimming medals for Northern Ireland at a Commonwealth Games.
Rudd will leave his current role next month to become the High Performance Director (Swimming) for the Saudi Arabia Olympic & Paralympic Committee, working in close partnership with the Saudi Swimming Federation.
'I have very much enjoyed my time in Ireland, and it quickly became home, providing me with an opportunity to work with a wonderful group of staff, athletes, and coaches throughout this time,' said Rudd.
'I will certainly miss the people and the role, but it is time for something fresh, and the role in Saudi Arabia very much presents this.'
Swim Ireland's current Head of Performance Pathways & Operations, Andrew Reid, will step into the vacant Performance Director position for an interim period while the governing body 'considers its options' for the Los Angeles cycle and beyond.
Reid, a former Irish international swimmer, has worked in the Swim Ireland performance team since 2010.
The other change comes in Rowing Ireland, a body which has delivered five medals at the last three Olympic Games.
Two of them came at Paris 2024 where Fintan McCarthy and Paul O'Donovan retained their title in the lightweight doubles and Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch added a bronze in the heavyweight double sculls.
The Italian Antonio Maurogiovanni was high-performance director for the last two cycles but his term came to an end late last year. He has since moved on to take over the equivalent role with the French federation through to LA in 2028.
Maurogiovanni's methods weren't universally popular but they delivered four Olympic and 11 world championship medals. A Rowing Ireland focus group is currently in the process of identifying a successor with no white smoke as of yet on the horizon.
However, talk of a high-performance reshuffle some months ago has now produced a shake-up with Dominic Casey, the renowned lightweight rowing guru from Skibbereen, confirmed in a High Performance Lead coaching role.
Lightweight rowing is, of course, no longer on the Olympic menu.
Alongside a ream of other appointments was confirmation of three new coaches for the high-performance structure based in Ovens in Cork while a new high-performance operations manager has also been appointed.
'As part of the implementation of its 2024–2029 Strategic Plan, Rowing Ireland is pleased to announce several new appointments that reflect its commitment to system-wide development, club and athlete support, and long-term competitive success,' a statement said.
'These appointments represent a significant step in building the capacity and capability required to deliver on the organisation's strategic objectives, particularly in high performance, participation growth, governance, and athlete and club-centred support.
Next up for the nation's elite rowers is the European Championships that get underway in Plovdiv, Bulgaria at the end of May.