One of Dublin’s longest-running sporting traditions will take on a new role this September, with the 106th Dublin City Council Dublin City Liffey Swim forming the centrepiece of the inaugural Dublin City Council Liffey Festival.
Entries have now opened for the historic open-water race, which will take place on Saturday, September 12th, bringing an expected 300 swimmers into the heart of the capital.
The event was immortalised in Jack B Yeats painting of the same name which hangs in the National Gallery of Ireland.
For the first time in the event’s 106-year history, the Liffey Swim will sit within a wider two-day celebration of the river, combining sport, culture, maritime activity and family entertainment along Dublin’s quays and waterways.
The race will open the festival programme on Saturday, providing a highly visible sporting focal point before the wider programme of water-based activities, live entertainment and maritime attractions continues across the weekend.
The approximately 2.2 kilometre course will take swimmers from Rory O’Moore Bridge through the city centre to the finish at Custom House Quay, passing beneath many of Dublin’s best-known bridges along the way.
Around 300 competitors are expected to take part, including experienced open-water swimmers, former champions and first-time qualifiers.
The Liffey Swim remains the pinnacle of the Irish open-water swimming season and one of the standout events on Swim Ireland’s National Open Water Calendar.
“The Dublin City Liffey Swim is one of Ireland’s most historic and celebrated sporting events,” said Adam Cox, Swim Ireland Director of Aquatic Sports.
“This year is particularly special as the 106th race will open the inaugural Dublin City Council Liffey Festival, providing an opportunity to showcase both this iconic sporting tradition and the River Liffey itself to an even wider audience.
“We look forward to welcoming swimmers and spectators to what promises to be a landmark weekend for Dublin and for Irish open water swimming.”
The expansion of the event into the wider Liffey Festival also adds another dimension to the longstanding partnership between Swim Ireland and Dublin City Council.
It brings together sporting participation, civic identity and the use of one of the capital’s most recognisable public spaces, while creating the potential to build a larger spectator audience around an event that has been part of Dublin sporting life for more than a century.
The partnership reflects a shared commitment to participation in sport while also celebrating Dublin’s sporting heritage in a contemporary city-centre setting.
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Image Credit: Swim Ireland
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