Swimming 2011Swimming is among the most popular sporting activities in the country and Swim Ireland, the sports governing body has set out a four year strategic plan to 2017 with one of the core elements being to build a better connection with recreational swimmers.
The number involved is more than 200,000 and the plan gives prominence to the development of a commercial offering to target these individuals.
Greater direct relationships with this swimming population will in turn open up new partnership opportunities with existing and new sponsors.
An example of how this might take shape around the regions was the sponsorship this past weekend by Danske Bank of  the first Long Course Gala to be held at Northern Ireland’s newest pool in Bangor.
The event attracted 400 swimmers including Olympian Sycericka McMahon and Paralympian Gold Medallist Bethany Firth.
“This is the first time Danske Bank has been involved at this level in swimming and reflects the growing popularity of the sport and investment in new facilities,” said Karen McRoberts of Danske Bank. “Support for youth sport is very important to us and we are already heavily involved in schools’ rugby and GAA.  Extending into swimming is a new venture and it was a great weekend of competition in this fantastic new facility.”
The commercial target for Swim Ireland over the next four years is to increase the level of self generated income through sponsorship and commercial income from 43% to 46% of total turnover. In 2009 the figure was 39%.
Key to this will be a perceptible shift from being an organisation primarily concerned with competitive swimming to one which is seen as developing and promoting swimming as a lifelong sport with fitness as an equal goal to medals.
The sport’s principal commercial sponsor is Kellogg’s which is in year two of a three year relationship based around the children’s learn to swim programme.
The sale of merchandise at events and through an online store has also stepped up and begun to deliver commercial revenues as well as enhancing the brand of Swim Ireland and the sport is coming off a period in which Irish swimmers made it to finals at every European swimming event in the four year ‘Olympic’ cycle to 2012.
The target for 2016 is to have at least six swimmers qualified to compete at the Rio Olympics.
Masters and Open Sea programmes are being developed catering for the natural advantages we have as an Island with a strong sea swimming potential.
Another area is the development of programmes to ‘bring back’ swimmers who have competed at a young level but have then fallen away from the sport and presently have few hooks to attract them back.
Swimming has made great strides in recent years to step back into the mainstream after considerable reputation and legal challenges in the area of child welfare.
To have come through this has taught many lessons and the commitment to updating best practice on coaching and welfare at least every two years is necessary but also will provide leadership in an area that is vital for all sports in Ireland and further afield.
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