Paris Olympic Diver Ciara McGing Announces her Retirement
2024 Paris Olympian Ciara McGing has announced her retirement from competitive diving.
McGing, who first competed for Ireland in 2019, trained with Swim Ireland’s National Centre Dublin at the Sport Ireland Campus from age 16 before joining Ohio State University in 2020, where she won a Big10 title and reached NCAA Finals. The 24-year-old is a multi-time European and World Championships competitor, with her best result coming at the European Games in 2023, where she finished sixth in the Platform Final (10M). She is the current Irish Record holder in both the Platform and Women’s Platform Synchro events.
McGing leaves the competitive side of sport to concentrate on medical school in London.
Speaking on the announcement McGing said “I have come to the difficult decision that I am going to step away from international diving. After Paris, I took six months away from the sport to provide the time and space to not rush the decision. After 15 years of training and competing, I now feel it is the right time for me to move on.
Diving has given me the most amazing opportunities and the best friends I could have asked for. The experiences I’ve had since making the national team at 16 have far exceeded what I ever thought possible. I started with the goal of wearing a green jersey at the Junior Europeans, and I’ve come out the other side having travelled the world representing my country. It was beyond my dreams that this 8-year-old girl would leave the sport as an Olympian.
I couldn’t have done it without my family who have supported me throughout my diving career and have been the best cheerleaders. I also wish to thank Swim Ireland, Sport Ireland, my coaches and my teammates, who helped me attain the skills and confidence to become an experienced international diver.
I will be starting medical school in September and hope to qualify as a doctor specialising in sports medicine, so I can help other Irish athletes perform at the highest level—just as I was able to do.’
National Diving Head Coach Damian Ball commented ‘Ciara spent many years training and competing at a high level and reaching the Paris Olympic Games was a remarkable milestone in a wonderful career. Ciara was a hardworking and focused individual, who showed great determination to achieve her goal of becoming an Olympian. Her perseverance and courage will be an inspiration to many young Irish divers, and I would like to wish Ciara all the very best in her future endeavours.’
National Performance Director Jon Rudd was to say, “”It’s been an absolute pleasure having Ciara feature as part of our Irish National teams for as long as I can recall. To see her bow out of the sport after the Olympic Games in Paris, and within a sport where being an Irish Olympian is a very exclusive club, this is a very fitting time to make such a decision, particularly when an opportunity to study medicine at such an excellent school comes along. She will, of course, be missed, but she has the personality, character and experience that must not be lost to Irish sport, and we will be doing all that we can to encourage her to stay in touch and find ways and means by which she can help our athletes of the future – across all of aquatic sports. So, thank you for your dedication and service to Irish diving, Ciara – and please don’t be a stranger!”
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