Eimir bounces back to earn medals success in France

AFTER being cruelly denied a medal at last year’s World Championships in Switzerland, Ireland’s only international ice climber Eimir McSwiggan bounced back in style at the latest round of the World Cup where she finished third and won a European Championship silver medal in the process.

The Gortin native was left frustrated and somewhat dismayed following last year’s disappointment in Saas Fee where she was penalised by the line-out rule, which serendipitously worked in her favour during the weekend’s event where the bi-annual European Championships were also competed for.

The line out rule comes into play if competitors stray outside the climbing route and the designated area they are permited to make contact with on the wall. Anything outside of that is deemed out of bounds.

“Last year at the World Championships I was disqualified at the semi-finals after a dynamic swing move and there was a wire as part of the structure that I hit – for me at the time, it was an oversight by the route-setters because of the swing ” Eimir explained.

“That wire shouldn’t have been there but what made it harder was it was my first competition in three years. I was living in Korea and there was a 10-day mandetory quarantine, so it was a big decision just to go and compete.

“I went to Switzerland and it was heartbreaking and the judge was very unfair at the time. They didn’t even let me finish the route.

“It’s part of the competition and sometimes we feel maybe the judges should point out things specific to the climb, which was the case in this competition.”

As annoyed as she was last year, Eimir was feeling much happier in 2023 as the rule helped her claim a podium finish this time around.

“[At the weekend] I was fourth until one of the Swiss girls topped the route but lower down she pushed off the side of the structure, so her score was downgraded and that meant I finished in third,” she said.

“It’s part of the competition none of us really like and while I felt bad for her, having been on the receiving end of that I have to think ‘those are the rules’.”

Following her frustration in Switzerland last year and after having sat out the last couple of years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Eimir had considered not competing in 2023.

Feeling her fitness levels weren’t where they once were and being a tad rusty after such a lay-off from competition, she thought seriously about sitting the season out.

But with the first round of the World Cup taking place in South Korea, where she is based, she took the plunge, finishing fourth before moving on to France last week where she earned a bronze medal and a coveted European Championship silver, making her decision to compete more than worthwhile.

“I wasn’t going to compete this year at all because I just felt I wasn’t in the right shape, having been out of the competitions for so long,” she explained.

“But because of that, I went into the competition with no pressure because sometimes that can be the hardest thing. If you’ve trained a lot you have more expectation and you can climb more nervously.

“This time, I had nothing to lose and I think that worked to my advantage but just being out there feels like a success for me this year.”

The World Cup concludes in Saas Fee this coming weekend where Eimir admits she hasn’t had much luck, particularly last year.

“It’s a competition I’ve never done well at,” she said. “I’ve made the finals twice but I seem to make every mistake possible, so I don’t have the same expectations now, so if I made the finals that would be amazing.