Olympians Arrive on Irish Shore Next Week

Final preparations are underway for the worlds 5 top Olympic Waterpolo teams who will touch down in Dublin next week for their last of their pre Olympic training, by taking part in the Dublin Cup. The event will take place from July 5th to 8th National Aquatic Centre, and is being hosted by Swim Ireland together with the Irish Water Polo Association. The event will showcase top Olympic sport here in Ireland and offers an opportunity to see the worlds best athletes at the top of their game prior to the London Olympics.


Current Olympic champions Hungary will take part, who won at the recent European Championships in the Netherlands. The countries participating are Great Britain, Hungary, Romania, Montenegro, and Croatia.

Minister of State for Tourism & Sport Michael Ring, the Chairman of the London 2012 Coordinating Committee, said: "The inaugural Dublin Cup for water polo promises to be a very exciting event. I'm also delighted that these five teams have chosen Dublin for their last pre-Olympic training sessions. A lot of people have done a lot of work in the run-up to the Olympics, to ensure that Ireland plays a key role in the event. So it's heartening to see all that work now playing off with events like the Dublin Cup."

The teams will train in the National Aquatic Centre on Thursday, prior to the opening ceremony with the Garda band on Thursday evening, and with matches then taking place on Friday and Saturday with tournament finale on Sunday.


Swim Ireland is the governing body for the Irish Water Polo Association (IWPA), and is providing financial and administrative support to the event, while the event itself is the brainchild of the IWPA administrative team.

Speaking today Bobby Nolan of the IWPA said: "We are really looking forward to hosting these top athletes in Dublin for four days, and we are proud to have made it happen. Even if waterpolo isn't your sport, you cant but admire the achievements and athleticism of these men. Some of them have four Olympic gold medals, which is phenomenal, and something the rest of us only dream of. The event will be made even more interesting by the fact that the teams will be competing competitively here, as it is the chance where their squads are selected prior to the Games. The event ".


Tickets for the event are available from the event website - www.dublinwaterpolo2012.com. Ticket prices range from €4.50 for a child's ticket, to €90 for a 4 day pass, with €25 for a day pass. Matches taking place daily in the early evening, with the addition of a morning session on Friday 6th.