The 22nd World Aquatics Championships is a big celebration of everything in the pool, and in the case of open water swimming, out of it. The fun in the pool starts in Singapore on 11th July with some group stage matches from the water polo competition. The World Championships run through to 3rd August, when a big day of swimming finals, including the exhilarating medleys, brings the curtain down on the thrilling aquatics event.
There is a lot to look forward to at this year’s World Championships, including plenty of Irish interest in the hunt for medals. The Emerald Isle is sending 12 athletes to the World Championships, led by Olympic champion Daniel Wiffen. Can Ireland build on the successes in the pool at the 2024 Olympic Games and produce a successful World Championships team effort?
Sports at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships
- Water polo
- Open water swimming
- Artistic swimming
- High diving
- Diving
- Swimming
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Ireland’s epic 2024 Summer Olympics
Ireland’s swimmers played a huge part in making the 2024 Olympics the country’s most successful Games ever. Ireland brought home a tally of seven medals, one more than they managed at London 2012. It was also the first Olympic Games at which Ireland won more than one gold medal.
In the pool, Daniel Wiffen spectacularly claimed the Men’s 800m freestyle gold for Ireland, before later adding a bronze in the Men’s 1500m freestyle, while Mona McSharry took a nail-biting bronze in the Women’s 100m breaststroke.
The performances from the Irish swimming team at Paris 2024 raised the bar. It’s because of those high standards reached in the Olympics that the 2025 World Aquatics Championships will become even more important for Irish swimming, as there is an exciting new level of expectation about what the team can achieve.
Ireland’s World Aquatics Championships team
Olympic champion Daniel Wiffen and Olympic finalist Mona McSharry are the big names in the Irish squad for the World Aquatics Championships, and they will bear much of the medal expectancy for Team Ireland.
However, the quality in the team runs deeper with the experience of Shane Ryan, and the exciting progress of Ellen Walshe has continued strongly throughout 2025. This suggests that they have strong supporting roles to play in the team’s hopes of returning a good tally of medals to the Emerald Isle.
Team Ireland 2025 World Aquatics Championships
- Evan Bailey
- Jack Cassin
- Eoin Corby
- Tom Fannon
- Danielle Hill
- Ellie McCartney
- Mona McSharry
- Shane Ryan
- Cormac Rynn
- John Shortt
- Ellen Walshe
- Daniel Wiffen
2024 World Aquatics Championships
Ireland sent 16 competitors to last year’s World Championships (diving and swimming). Daniel Wiffen was the star of the show for Ireland, winning two gold medals, and being the only Irish male swimmer to reach the final of an event.
There was a similar story in the women’s events, as Mona McSharry was the only Irish female swimmer to reach a final. She qualified for the finals of the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke, with a best finish of fifth place.
Key athletes to watch!
With hopes high for medals at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, there’s great anticipation building that we will get to see some Irish swimmers on the podium. Medals, of course, are the highest marker of success as they are the special moments that memories are made of.
However, success at the World Championships for Ireland would also be measured by seeing progress being made outside of medal winning. Seeing anyone other than Wiffen and McSharry reach the final of an event would be a massive step forward in the progress of Team Ireland.
Along with the experienced heads in the dozen, some excellent young prospects are looking to grab their chance to shine. John Shortt, Evan Bailey and Ellie McCartney, some of the top exciting prospects from the country, will all be in action for Ireland. Of the 12-strong team of athletes heading to Singapore, the following are the key ones to look out for.
Daniel Wiffen
Wiffen is the golden boy of Irish swimming, and at the 2024 World Aquatics he was a double gold medallist, landing the 800m and 1500m freestyle titles in Doha. He will be defending both titles at this year’s World Championships and is one of the firm favourites to deliver some success on that front.
In Singapore, Wiffen will also make a run at the 400m freestyle, something he is aiming to treat as a medal-oriented, warm-up race for his two stronger distances. Wiffen has had a dramatic rise to swimming stardom and became the first swimmer from the Emerald Isle to break a world record in the pool, back in December 2023 at the European Short Course Championships.
As a teen, Wiffen appeared as an extra in Game of Thrones, but 11 years later, he reigned in the pool when he won Ireland’s first Olympic gold medal, by claiming the 800m freestyle crown at Paris 2024.
Mona McSharry
Mona McSharry won a tremendous bronze at Paris 2024, as she just got her fingertips to the board under some intense pressure in the 100m breaststroke. The final was a high-quality one, stacked with event specialists, but McSharry got herself on the podium by just 0.01 of a second ahead of two competitors who shared fourth, one of them the world record holder Lilly King.
McSharry was in action recently at the Sette Colli meet in Rome along with teammate Ellen Walshe. This was an important meeting for both swimmers to build confidence and get in top competitive shape ahead of the World Championships. McSharry looked in fine form, finishing the meet with two silvers from efforts in the 100m and 200m breaststroke.
Ellen Walshe
At the 2023 European U23 Championships, Ellen Walshe picked up some medals in Rome at the Sette Colli meet. The first of those was gold in the 400m individual medley, before she added a 200m butterfly silver and a 200m individual medley bronze.
Walshe has been one of Ireland’s top swimmers this year, setting eight Irish records in December’s World Short Course Championships. This was a huge leap forward in status for her, and she could light up the pool in Singapore later this month.
Back in 2021, she won a 400m medley silver at the World Championships, and the 23-year-old is now in the hunt for individual success.
Shane Ryan
Shane Ryan has been to three Olympics for Ireland, and has often represented the country at the World Championships. He therefore brings a lot of experience to the team and still holds multiple Irish records, one of them being the 50m freestyle record set at last year’s European Aquatics Championships.
At the World Short Course Championships in Budapest last year, Ryan also produced a superb swim to claim bronze in the 50m backstroke, breaking his own Irish record in the process. The 31-year-old will look to improve on two previous 50m backstroke bronze medal efforts in this year’s World Championships.
Our expert prediction
With the prospects of a good World Championships coming up for Ireland, led by Wiffen and McSharry, you can check out the latest swimming odds at Tonybet. Explore the latest markets for the event, as well as a wide range of other top sports coverage on pre-match and in-play markets.
