It was a long wait for the three Irish finalists to compete in the Finals on Day 2 of the World Para Swimming Allianz European Championship but Nicole Turner, Barry McClements and Ellen Keane all featured within the last 5 events of the evening.
Nicole Turner turned in an electric performance in the final of the Women’s 100 metre Breaststroke to finish fourth and narrowly miss out on a podium position. That same race also produced the third World Record performance of the day as Maisie Summer Newton broke her own record with her Great Britain compatriot, Ellie Simmonds making it a Great Britain 1-2.
Barry McClements featured in a mightily competitive men’s 100 metre Butterfly S9, an event where the form showed that there would be little between the competitors and so it proved. Barry turned at the 50m mark in 4th place and fought hard but his challenge faded as his expereienced competitors strove for home. Barry will be pleased with another strong performance as he took fifth position. The Newtownards man will compete again tomorrow in the 100m Backstroke where he will be a strong contender.
The biggest cheer of the night came for the last event as Ellen Keane competed for the first time. Keane’s heat had been cancelled earlier in the day leaving Ellen to wait longer than planned before she could make her Dublin 2018 bow. Keane put in a solid performance finishing in fourth place in the Women’s 100 Metre Butterfly. The Rio Paralympian will be happy to get her championships underway and will look forward to her stronger events that come later this week.
Sean O’Riordan enjoyed some great results both in and out of the pool as he set another Personal Best, his 2nd of the championships, and celebrated by opening his leaving certificate results. Sean, who competed in the Mens 200 metre Individual Medley was delighted as he left the pool at the Sport Ireland National Aquatic Centre with a new personal best time of 2:36:04 and he was equally pleased when he opened his results with his family afterwards.
Hayley Burke, Para Swimming Manager with Paralympics Ireland said ‘There was huge experience gained today, especially for our younger team members. They are all really rising to the challenge. Barry McClements competed really well in an event in which he is considerably younger than his competitors which was a real bonus. We feel that good progress is being mained and some really good lessons have been learned so far.’
3 more World Records were achieved on Day 3 of the World Para Swimming Allianz European Championships, the first coming from Liesette Bruinsma in the Women’s 400m Freestyle S11 event who set the new mark as she claimed her second gold medal of the championships. Maisie Summers Newton broke her own mark in Nicole Turners event whilst Italy’s Carlotta Gilli finished 7 seconds clear of the field as she broke her own record with a time of 2:22:12
The women’s 50 Metre Freestyle S12 proved to be the most exciting of the day as Team GB’s Hannah Russell and Elena Krawzow from Germany shared the gold medal after finishing simultaneously.
It will be a busy day in the pool for Ireland on Day 3 of the World Para Swimming Allianz European Championships as 6 athletes compete for Team Ireland. Patrick Flanagan, Ellen Keane, Ailbhe Kelly, Barry McClements, Jonathan McGrath and Nicole Turner who will compete in a straight final at 6:04 pm.
