Eimir ecstatic after sealing podium result in South Korea

EIMIR McSwiggan enjoyed a sensational start to her UIAA World Cup campaign in Cheongsong, South Korea at the weekend with a podium finish. Ireland’s only international ice climber went into the competition with little to no expectations having struggled with a shoulder injury during the off-season and she was ‘elated’ to achieve a third placed finish in the end.

“I can’t believe it because I wasn’t even going to compete this year!,” she beamed. “I moved back to Ireland [just over two years ago] so it’s been hard to train and I changed careers and I finished last year determined to get strong again for this year but I got a bad shoulder injury.

“During the summer I wasn’t even really able to use the shoulder, but I started doing a lot of physio and I was training a bit but I wasn’t really sure if I was going to be able to compete but I decided to go for it and I guess it all came together when I was in Korea. I was a bit elated!

“I didn’t know at all how I would do, even going out for the qualification round and I was kind of surprised, but I definitely have a bit more confidence going into the next round.” Without sponsorship and any financial assistant from sporting bodies in Ireland, Eimir’s World Cup campaign in 2025 will be entirely self-financed, which is why she hasn’t committed to a full campaign just yet.

But she admits, the fact she can use her annual leave and work remotely will give her that option and because of her bright start in South Korea, she’s already pondering what to do after the two European rounds in Saas-Fee in Switzerland and Champagny-en-Vanoise in France. “I’ve kind of committed to Saas Fee and Champagny and then there’s two other World Cups in Longmont in Colorado and another in Edmonton but I don’t really have any funding this year, so I’m not sure if I’ll go to America yet.

“But I got a good result in Korea, so it’s very hard not to at least think about it!”

Having been based in Cork for the last couple of years, the Gortin native was delighted to be back in South Korea, where she lived for over a decade, for the first round of the Ice Climbing World Cup and before flying back to Ireland the Irish Ambassador Michelle Winthrop will be hosting a reception in her honour.

“One of the [Irish] girls [who lives in Korea] was back home for Christmas so she gave me her apartment just for a week or two when I was training here and she got in touch with the Embassy and I was invited over to meet the Ambassador before the event,” Eimir explained.

“And they have been really promoting it and they are going to have a wee get together for me in the Irish bar on Friday (tomorrow) night, so it’s really amazing.”