Team Ireland missed out on their first medal of the championships as Ellen Keane finished fourth by a finger tip after an exhillarating 100M backstroke race.
Keane again progressed straight through to the final of this event which wouldn’t be one of her strongest and at the 50m mark she was left with considerable distance to make up. However, Ellen seemed to grow stronger as the race continued and she ate up the ground between herself and Toni Shaw from Great Britain. However, despite her late charge and a Season’s Best performance she lost out by less than a second.
Nicole Turner continued her promising championships as she again reached the final in the 100 M backstroke S6, an event that is not amongst her strongest. Her time of 1:37:94 was a strong showing as she finished in 7th place in the final. She now has a break until Saturday when she will compete in her favourite event; the Women’s 50m Butterfly S6.
Jonathan McGrath got jhis championships underway and progressed through his heat to the final of the Men’s 100m Backstroke S8. His time of 1:18:64 was good enough for a strong 5th place finish. Patrick Flanagan will also be pleased with his days work as he recorded a new personal best in the 100 Metre Backstroke Final, his second Personal Best performance this week.
Ailbhe Kelly continued her positive week of performances as she reached the final in the 100M Backstroke S8. Her time of 1:26:50 brought her a fifth place finish. Barry McClements also competed today in the heats of the Men’t 100m Backstroke but didn’t progress to the finals; however, his best events are ahead this weekend.
Elsewhere, there was a European record from Germany’s Verena Schott who who took over a second from the mark she set herself in June. France’s Didier Ugo also recorded a European Record of 1:03:10, beating a long standing record set by James Crisp 18 years ago in the 100M Backstroke S9.
Tomorrow is another busy day in the pool for Irish athletes as Patrick Flanagan, Ellen Keane, Ailbhe Kelly, Jonathan McGrath, Sean O’Riordan and James Scully all compete in their respective heats. There is also a novel occasion set to take place as the Dublin 2018 Ambassador Challenge Race is set to take place featuring Niall Quinn, Amber Barrett, Jessie Barr, Gordon D’Arcy, Paul O’Flynn, Cora Staunton and Rory O’Connor (Rory’s Stories) compete in a 50m race.
