Showjumping rider ✓ AI-verified

Conor Swail

🇮🇪 Ireland · born 1971

1971Born

IrelandCountry

7Famous horses

3Championship starts

About Conor Swail

Conor Swail is an Irish showjumper from Saintfield, County Down, competing for Ireland under FEI ID 10001018 and based professionally in North America since moving to Ontario in 2011. Cited sport sources disagree on his exact date of birth - the IJRC member profile gives 2 January 1971 and the Rolex Series profile gives 26 November 1971 - so no single date or age is asserted here; both candidates agree on the birth year. A published Irish News profile records that his parents took Conor and his brother Marcus to shows, that Marcus went on to be a veterinarian for Irish equestrian teams, and that Swail played Gaelic football and hurled for Down at minor and junior level before his showjumping career took hold. He first competed at the Dublin Horse Show at six and made his first Irish Nations Cup team at Linz in 1997.

His only verified senior championship start is the 2013 FEI European Jumping Championship at Herning with Lansdowne, where he made both a competitive team start, Ireland finishing ninth, and a competitive individual start, recorded 18th. He travelled to the 2014 World Equestrian Games in Normandy as Ireland's reserve with the same horse and did not start; a travelling-reserve role is not a World Championship appearance, and no World Championship start is recorded for him. No competitive Olympic start is verified at any Games. He was not named on Ireland's team or reserve list for the 2026 Aachen World Championships.

Swail's standout championship-level result is eighth place in the 2022 FEI Jumping World Cup Final at Leipzig with Count Me In, the central horse of his mature career. Count Me In also carried him to the 2024 CSI5* ATCO Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Spruce Meadows and was part of the Irish team that won the Aga Khan Trophy at Dublin on 19 August 2022 after a jump-off against France. He has won a series of FEI World Cup qualifiers - Fort Worth in 2021, Washington in 2022, Las Vegas in 2023 and Toronto with Casturano in November 2025 - all of which are qualifiers, held separately from the Final.

Swail has no Rolex Grand Slam Major win or podium. Several of his biggest North American victories carry sponsor branding that can be mistaken for Major status: the 2016 $500,000 RBC Grand Prix presented by Rolex was held at the Spruce Meadows 'National', not the 'Masters', and the 2024 Queen Elizabeth II Cup was held during the 'North American' tournament - neither is one of the four Majors, which are Geneva, Aachen, the Spruce Meadows 'Masters' and 's-Hertogenbosch. His 2024 debut in the Rolex IJRC Top 10 Final at Geneva is an invitation class, not the Rolex Grand Prix of Geneva. In 2026 he remains a top-40 rider, 38th in the 6 August snapshot, leading a string headed by Clonterm Obolensky and Casturano after the retirements of Count Me In in October 2025 and Vital Chance de la Roque in January 2026.

At a glance

Born	1971
Country	🇮🇪 Ireland
FEI world rank	#38 · 2,145 pts (list n°306, 2026-08-06) ↗
Country	Ireland↗85
FEI ID	10001018. CORRECTION: the row previously cited FEI athlete 10000749 (https://www.fei.org/athlete/10000749/Swail-Conor/showjumping) as Swail's profile. The FEI athlete record for Conor Swail is 10001018; the 10000749 reference was wrong and has been removed.↗85
Date of birth - CONFLICT, UNRESOLVED	No single date is asserted. The IJRC member profile gives 2 January 1971; an IJRC 'Road to Rolex Top 10' feature and the Rolex Series rider profile give 26 November 1971. Both agree on the birth YEAR 1971, which is stored; the day and month are disputed and no canonical date is selected.↗(u)40
Age - stated both ways	Not resolvable to a single value at 6 August 2026 because the cited date of birth conflicts. If 2 January 1971, he is 55; if 26 November 1971, he is 54. Both figures are calculated from the published candidate dates; no displayed-age field is used as a substitute.↗(u)40
Origin and professional base	Published origin Saintfield, County Down, Northern Ireland. He competes for Ireland and is based professionally in the United States, having moved to Ontario in 2011.↗(u)40
Family and early sporting background	A published Irish News profile records that his parents brought Conor and his brother Marcus to shows, and that Marcus later became a veterinarian for Irish equestrian teams. The same profile records that he played Gaelic football and hurling, including hurling for Down at minor and junior level, before his international showjumping career became established. He first competed at the Dublin Horse Show at six. Published and cited personal background only; no uncited private material is recorded.↗(u)40
2014 World Equestrian Games, Normandy - TRAVELLING RESERVE, NON-START	Swail travelled to the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Normandy as Ireland's reserve with Lansdowne and DID NOT START. A travelling-reserve role is never a start. The four competitive Irish combinations were Bertram Allen with Molly Malone V, Cameron Hanley with Antello Z, Darragh Kenny with Imothep and Denis Lynch with All Star 5. No World Championship appearance, start or result is recorded for Swail.↗(u)40
Rolex Grand Slam Major wins	ZERO. The four Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping Majors are the Grands Prix of Geneva, CHIO Aachen, the Spruce Meadows 'Masters' and 's-Hertogenbosch only. Swail has no Major win and no Major podium on the verified record.↗(u)40
2016 Spruce Meadows RBC Grand Prix - NOT a Rolex Major	Swail won the $500,000 RBC Grand Prix presented by Rolex at Spruce Meadows in 2016 with Martha Louise. This CSI5* victory is real and significant, but it was held at the Spruce Meadows 'NATIONAL' tournament. The Rolex Grand Slam Major at Spruce Meadows is the Grand Prix run during the 'MASTERS'. Rolex sponsor branding on the class name does NOT make it a Major.↗(u)40
2024 Queen Elizabeth II Cup - NOT a Rolex Major	Swail won the CSI5* 1.60m ATCO Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Spruce Meadows on 7 July 2024 with Count Me In. It was held during the Spruce Meadows 'NORTH AMERICAN' tournament, not the 'Masters', and is therefore NOT a Rolex Grand Slam Major.↗(u)40
2024 Rolex IJRC Top 10 Final - NOT a Rolex Major	Swail qualified for and debuted in the Rolex IJRC Top 10 Final at Geneva in 2024. This is a distinct IJRC invitation class; it is NOT the Rolex Grand Prix of Geneva, which is the Geneva Major. No Major appearance or result is recorded from it.↗(u)40
2025 Toronto CSI5*-W win - NOT a Rolex Major	Swail won the CSI5*-W 1.60m Longines FEI Jumping World Cup class at Toronto in 2025 with Casturano. This is a North American League World Cup QUALIFIER: it is not a World Cup Final and not a Rolex Grand Slam Major.↗(u)55
2026 Thunderbird CSI4* Grand Prix win - NOT a Rolex Major	Swail won the CSI4* Grand Prix at Thunderbird Show Park in 2026 with Clonterm Obolensky, part of a run of six international wins with five different horses across two Thunderbird weeks in May 2026. A CSI4* Grand Prix is not a Rolex Grand Slam Major.↗(u)40
Senior team win	Ireland won the Longines FEI Nations Cup of Ireland for the Aga Khan Trophy at Dublin on 19 August 2022 after a jump-off against France, with Swail a competitive team member riding Count Me In. His jump-off round was 1.50 seconds faster than the French clear.↗(u)40
Honours	FEI Bronze Badge of Honour, 2017 - federation recognition. Year-only record; no full award date is cited.↗(u)40
Riding characteristics (sourced)	An IJRC interview profile describes Swail as an intuitive rider whose strength is adapting to each individual horse, and identifies exceptional ability against the clock. He described Casturano as a horse he produced himself, and FEI reporting records the pair's progressive development to five-star level. In May 2026 he took six international wins with five different horses across two Thunderbird weeks.↗(u)40
Rider health record	2008: back operation (FEI biography). 2013: ruptured an Achilles tendon at Toronto and was out of action for two months (FEI biography). 2015: sustained a back injury at Toronto (FEI biography). Only injuries published in the FEI athlete biography are recorded; no present health condition is inferred.↗(u)55
Business activity	The IJRC feature records ten years buying, selling and developing young horses for Barry O'Connor, later professional work at Lothlorien Farm, and the establishment of his own North American operation with businessman Conall Murray. No uncited valuation, earnings total or private financial material is recorded.↗(u)40
FEI statistics scope	At the 6 August 2026 snapshot: 38th in the Longines ranking on 2,145 points, with 2,670 FEI jumping starts and 263 FEI jumping wins recorded since 2010. The starts and wins counters cover results from 2010 onward and are NOT all-career totals. Rankings, points and combination standings are dynamic fields recorded here as a dated snapshot.↗(u)55
Leading current combinations	Clonterm Obolensky, ranked 16th on 750 points, and Casturano, ranked 45th on 626 points, in the 6 August 2026 FEI combination-ranking snapshot.↗(u)55

48/99Evidence score for this page — the average across 20 cited claims, of which 2meet our two-source standard.

Each claim carries its own score: 40–55 for a single source (higher when the publisher is the studbook, the FEI or the WBFSH rather than an interested party), +25 for every further independent source that carries it, and +30 where our two-model check confirmed it against the cited page. 70 is the pass mark; nothing ever reaches 100. (u) marks the 18 claims still resting on a single source — likely correct, most are, but not yet independently confirmed. How we score evidence

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Championship record

Year	Championship	Result	Horse
2022	World Cup Final · Leipzig	8th↗	Count Me In
2013	European Championships · Herning	9th team↗	Lansdowne
2013	European Championships · Herning	18th individual↗	Lansdowne

One row per championship appearance, as reported by the cited sources.

Horses

Horse	Years	Together
Count Me In	2018-2025	The central horse of Swail's mature career. Partner for his verified 2022 FEI Jumping World Cup Final start at Leipzig (8th individually), Ireland's Aga Khan Trophy win at Dublin on 19 August 2022, the CSI5* 1.60m ATCO Queen Elizabeth II Cup at the Spruce Meadows 'North American' on 7 July 2024 (a five-star win, NOT a Rolex Grand Slam Major), and World Cup qualifier wins at Fort Worth (December 2021), Washington (2022) and Las Vegas (2023) - qualifiers, not Finals. Swail announced his retirement from top-level sport in October 2025. PRIOR STORED NOTE was the bare 'Achieved several top placings together.'
Casturano	2023-2026	Current Grand Prix horse, produced by Swail himself. Won the CSI5*-W 1.60m Longines FEI Jumping World Cup class at Toronto on 15 November 2025 - a North American League QUALIFIER, not a World Cup Final and not a Rolex Grand Slam Major. Ranked 45th on 626 points as a combination in the 6 August 2026 FEI snapshot.
Clonterm Obolensky	2025-2026	Swail's highest-ranked current combination, 16th on 750 points in the 6 August 2026 FEI snapshot. Won the CSI4* Grand Prix at Thunderbird Show Park in 2026 - a four-star Grand Prix, not a Rolex Grand Slam Major. 'Clonterm' is a stud prefix, not a sponsor prefix, and is retained as part of the horse's name.
Lansdowne	2011-2014	Swail's 2013 European Championship partner at Herning - verified competitive team start (Ireland 9th) and individual start (18th). Also the horse he travelled with to the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Normandy as Ireland's RESERVE, where the combination DID NOT START; that reserve role is not a World Championship appearance.
Vital Chance de la Roque	2018-2025	A long-standing Swail partner known as 'Vinny', campaigned barefoot in a hackamore. Documented wins include the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Sacramento (a World Cup QUALIFIER, not a Final and not a Rolex Major), the $138,600 Sun Air Jets 1.55m Grand Prix CSI3* at Desert International Horse Park, the $139,000 Cleghorn Golf & Sports Club Grand Prix CSI3* at Tryon and the $25,000 FarmVet 1.45m Open Classic in March 2024. Swail announced his retirement in January 2026.
Martha Louise	2016	Partner for Swail's 2016 win in the $500,000 RBC Grand Prix presented by Rolex at Spruce Meadows. That CSI5* Grand Prix was held at the Spruce Meadows 'NATIONAL' tournament, not the 'Masters', and is therefore NOT a Rolex Grand Slam Major despite the Rolex sponsor branding in the class name.
Quibelle	not specified	Retained from the prior record. UNVERIFIED: the prior note 'Competed successfully at the five-star level' carries no citation, the horse does not appear in the 6 August 2026 dossier, and no source confirming a Swail partnership was located during this ingest. Retained rather than deleted pending evidence; not counted in any result or appearance total.

Linked horses have their own cited EquiWiki profile.

Sources

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