Longford’s pride and joy: Double Olympian Darragh Greene on the plane to Paris

Becoming an Olympian for the first time at the 2020 Tokyo Games (deferred for a year due to the Global Covid Pandemic) was a dream come true for Longford swimming star Darragh Greene and one of Ireland’s elite athletes is going to repeat that magnificent feat.

The brilliant news is that Darragh will be on the plane to Paris for the 2024 Olympics, starting on Friday July 26, following his selection to represent the country in the Breaststroke leg of the 4 x 100m Medley Relay as confirmed by the Olympic Federation of Ireland.

The other members of the Medley Relay team are Shane Ryan (Freestyle), Conor Ferguson (Backstroke) and Max McCusker (Butterfly).

The Greene machine has been motoring on the world stage with great acclaim for the past number of years and it is a huge honour to compete at the highest level in Paris in a few weeks time. 

Darragh is undoubtedly Longford’s pride and joy and recently finished a fabulous 7th in the 100m Breaststroke Final at the European Aquatics Championships in Belgrade in June, clocking a time of 1:00.28 in his fastest swim in this event at the elite meet in Serbia.    

Speaking after the Final, Greene said: “It’s my first individual final on the European stage and I’m pretty happy with it. It’s indescribable when you get a chance to represent your country, it’s the main reason why we do it and put in the dedication into the sport itself is just to be able to represent your country as best as you can.”

Darragh then came so close to securing a place in the final of the 200m Breaststroke at the European Aquatics Championships. He finished fourth in the first semi-final in a time of 2:13.42 and 10th overall. 

Greene made an immediate trip from Serbia to Italy to compete in the prestigious Sette Colli International Meet in Rome against the best in the world and clocked 1:00.73 to finish 8th in the 100m Breaststroke A Final in a star studded line-up that included England’s World record holder Adam Peaty.

Now a double Olympian with his focus firmly fixed on his participation in the Paris Games, 28-year-old Newtownforbes native Darragh has come a long way since his early days with Longford Swimming Club and he is currently affiliated to NCD (National Centre Dublin). 

Ireland will have 12 swimmers in Paris in total and will also send two women's relay squads as they compete in the 4 x 100m medley and freestyle relays at the 2024 Olympics.