FIVE IRISH SWIMMERS SET TO COMPETE AT OPENING PARA SWIMMING WORLD SERIES EVENT

10 Mar 2017

A team of five Irish swimmers are set to compete at the opening meet of the new Para Swimming World Series in Copehagen this weekend (11th & 12th March).

The team features Rio Paralympic bronze medallist Ellen Keane, as well as fellow Paralympians James Scully, and Nicole Turner. They will be joined by upcoming young swimmers Barry McClements, and Patrick Flanagan.

Bringing together some of the biggest competitions on the global calendar, the World Series will take in five countries across Europe and the Americas between March-July, leading into the 2017 World Championships in Mexico City in October. This first meet in Denmark will see 122 swimmers from nineteen countries begin the 2017 international season.

Speaking about the meet Irish team manager Hayley Burke said; "We're looking forward to racing this weekend at this first World Series event of its kind. This will be the first time for Ellen, Nicole and James to race internationally since Rio and for Barry and Patrick it's been nearly a year. They're all in key phases of training at the moment so this will test them and showcase where they are at currently in terms of fitness. This is our first Meet of the Tokyo cycle so it'll lay down performance markers on which to build over the next three years."

All athlete's results at each World Series edition will be calculated using a standardised points system via an online virtual competition platform. This will ensure that the overall World Series winner will be the best performing athlete over the duration of the series, meaning that every performance counts.
Ends.

For further information:
Sinéad Naughton; Communications Director, Paralympics Ireland
www.paralympics.ie @ParalympicsIRE www.facebook.com/ParalympicsIreland
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Full Irish team for 2017 Para Swimming World Series 1; Copenhagen, Denmark.
Ellen Keane; S9, 100m Backstroke, 100m Breaststroke, 100m Butterfly 200m Individual Medley Ellen Keane Profile

James Scully; S5, 50m & 100m Freestyle, 50m Backstroke James Scully Profile

Nicole Turner; S6, 50m Butterfly, 400m Freestyle, 200m Individual Medley Nicole Turner Profile

Barry McClements, S9, 100m & 400m Freestyle, 100m Butterfly, 200m Individual Medley Barry McClements Profile

Patrick Flanagan, S7, 200m & 400m Freestyle, 50m & 100m Backstroke Patrick Flanagan Profile

2017 Para Swimming World Series Schedule
Copenhagen, Denmark 11-12 March 2017
Sao Paulo, Brazil 21-23 April
Sheffield, Great Britain, 27-30 April
Indianapolis, USA 9-11 June
Berlin, Germany 6-9 July
The 2017 World Para Swimming Championships take place in Mexico City from 30 September - 6 October.