Fiona Doyle was last night named High Performance Athlete of the Year for the second year running at the Swim Ireland Annual Awards in the Citywest Hotel, Saggart. Doyle, who is originally from Limerick but based at the University of Calgary in Canada, had an outstanding year in 2014 and won the award based on her performances; in particular her 50m Breaststroke Final at the European Championships in Berlin. Doyle has already shown her desire to secure a place at the Rio 2016 Olympics in 2015 with a number of new Irish Records and will target qualification for Rio 2016 at the World University Games and World Championships this summer.
Swim Ireland’s UL Sport Performance Centre Coach Lars Humer received the High Performance Coach of the Year Award. Humer works with Open Water swimmer Chris Bryan who was 9th in the 25KM swim at the European Championships in 2014 as well as a host of other high performance swimmers.
A total of 12 Awards which celebrate and honour the fantastic work and outstanding accomplishments of Swim Ireland’s athletes, coaches and volunteers were handed out on the night including Disability Swimmer of the Year Jonathan McGrath; Club of the Year Ards ASC; and National Volunteer of the Year Mary McMorrow. Bert O’Brien (Sandycove SWPC) was awarded the Water Polo Outstanding Achievement Award for his involvement with the sport which spans over 40 years.
Ten Junior International Athletes were also honoured on the night, they represented Ireland at the 2014 European Junior Championships in Swimming and Diving and at the World Youth Olympics, while the 2015 Water Polo All Stars were also presented.
The final part of the evening saw an induction into the Swim Ireland Hall of Fame. The 2014 inductees were Mr Norman Green and Mrs Marian Fenton (RIP).
Speaking after the event, Swim Ireland’s Chief Executive Officer Sarah Keane commented: “We are delighted each year to be able to celebrate the great accomplishments of our athletes and coaches and to recognise our volunteers for the hard work that they do, that sometimes goes unnoticed. The awards night gives us the opportunity to celebrate and remember the hard work that everyone puts into our sports; swimming, water polo, open water, diving and masters swimming.”
2014 Swim Ireland Award Winners
| Awards | Winner |
| Swim Ireland Club of the Year 2014 | Ards ASC |
| Swim Ireland National Volunteer of the Year 2014 | Mary McMorrow (Kilkenny SC) |
| Swim Ireland Volunteer of the Year (Club/Regional) 2014 | Nicole Dowdall (Asgard SC) |
| Swim Ireland Open Water Swimmer of the Year 2014 | Rachel Lee (Guinness SC) |
| Swim Ireland Disability Swimmer of the Year 2014 | Jonathan McGrath (Limerick SC) |
| Swim Ireland Club Athlete of the Year 2014 | Antoinette Neamt (Tallaght SC) |
| Swim Ireland Club Coach of the Year 2014 | Brian Sweeney (Templeogue SC) |
| Swim Ireland Local Media Award 2014 | Evening Echo (Cork) |
| Swim Ireland High Performance Athlete of the Year 2014 | Fiona Doyle (Portmarnock SC) |
| Swim Ireland High Performance Coach of the Year 2014 | Lars Humer (UL Sport Performance Centre) |
| Swim Ireland Masters Outstanding Contribution Award 2014 | Breda McNamara (Limerick Masters SC) |
| Swim Ireland Outstanding Contribution to Water Polo Award 2014 | Bert O’Brien (Sandycove Swimming & Water Polo Club) |
| Swim Ireland Hall of Fame | Marian Fenton |
| Swim Ireland Hall of Fame | Norman Green |
| Swim Ireland President’s Award 2015 | Liam Goss |
SwimNews Courtesy: Swimming Ireland