On the heels of Jordan Sloan announcing his retirement from competitive swimming, another Irishman revealed he has hung up his goggles.
Brendan Hyland, the current Irish national record holder in the long course 200m butterfly and 200m IM, has decided to retire at the age of 28.
“Proud to announce my retirement from the Sport I’ve loved and the beginning of an exciting new chapter out here at The Andersen Partnership in Perth,” Hyland said this week on social media.
“Massive thank you to @swimireland @team_ireland_olympic and every single person along the incredible journey. Lived it, loved it. ❤️🇮🇪”
Dublin-born Hyland has been a member of Tallaght Swimming Club throughout his time with the sport and spent over a decade of his performance-level swimming years as a member of National Centre (Dublin) based on the Sport Ireland Campus.
Hyland represented Ireland at the European Championships, World Championships and Olympic levels, including having been a part of Ireland’s first Olympic relay in 49 years in Tokyo.
On Hyland’s departure, Swim Ireland’s National Performance Director Jon Rudd stated, “Brendan has been the heartbeat of Irish National swimming teams for so long now and we were all thrilled when he finally achieved that which he had always strived for – to become an Olympian and deliver for his nation at the highest level of the sport.
“Brendan is another experienced senior athlete that will work with us in an Athlete Mentoring role going forwards and our up and coming talent will benefit greatly from all that he has learnt over his time in an Irish cap. He will be missed on the team – but is still very much part of the team in other ways!”