Swim Ireland appoint New Coach at Limerick High Performance Centre

Swim Ireland, in conjunction with the University of Limerick, have appointed Lars Humer as the new Head Coach at the High Performance Centre at the University Arena. Humer will take up his new position on Monday next 14th January 2013.

Originally from New Zealand, where he competed as a swimmer before becoming a coach, Humer has been a High Performance coach with British Swimming for the past 13 years. In that position he has coached both Paralympic and Olympic swimmers at various centres in the UK.

Swim Ireland National Performance Director Peter Banks said "We are delighted to have Lars on board, he has huge experience and a proven track record in coaching performance swimmers. I know he will do a great job in Limerick. Swim Ireland has started on a new Performance Pathway to 2016 and having performance centres with top class coaches in all four regions is the foundation and first step on that pathway."

Director of Sport at the University of Limerick Dave Mahedy commented "We are delighted to welcome Lars to Limerick and we look forward to working together with Lars and Swim Ireland in the future".

Speaking of his appointment Humer said "I'm looking forward to the challenge of working with a new group of swimmers. Swim Ireland has a great structure in place already and I'm excited by the prospect of working within that structure"

Commenting on today's announcement Swim Ireland's Chief Executive Sarah Keane said "We are thrilled to welcome Lars to the Swim Ireland team. He is the right person to succeed Ronald Claes as we move forward into a new Olympic Cycle with a new High Performance strategy. We believe Lars has the passion and experience to help Irish swimmers develop and deliver results at European and World level. We are grateful to the Irish Sports Council and University of Limerick for their support and we are excited about working together to further deliver for Irish Swimming and Irish Sport."