PARALYMPICS Irish Record for Stephen Campbell to Finish a Successful European Championships for Ireland's Paralympic Swimmers

Ireland's Stephen Campbell set a new Irish record tonight on the final evening of competition at the International Paralympic Committee European Swimming Championships in Iceland. Campbell set a new Irish standard of 67.14 to finish 7th in the final of the 100m Freestyle event (S11 Class).

Campbell, overjoyed with his performance, spoke to the assembled press after the race declaring, "A great way to finish the meet for me, a new pb and I have really enjoyed swimming the final tonight". Campbell started strongly out of the blocks and maintained a strong pace to take .06 seconds off his previous mark.

This morning, teenager Laurence McGivern, set a new personal best in the heats of the 100m Freestyle event (S9 Class). This was a strong swim from which McGivern will reap invaluable experience that will stand to him over the coming years.

For Ireland, it has been an extremely successful European Championship competition with 2 Silver medals, 14 finals and 14 personal best performances. Star of the team was Wexford's Darragh McDonald with a haul of two European silver medals to add to his silver medal from the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. With over half the team making their major Championship debut with such success and still a very young squad, this has been a tremendous performance for the Irish Paralympic Swimming Team.

For Head of Paralympic Swimming, Dave Malone, at his first championships in the role, the games has been a very rewarding experience. Reflecting on the team's performance, Malone said, "This has truly been a tremendous championships for the Irish team. The team is young and full of potential with our objective coming over here being to compete against the best athletes in Europe and to learn for the experience. The team delivered on all fronts, competing in finals every night and achieving many new personal best times. To win 2 silver medals has been a fantastic achievement for Darragh McDonald and the whole country should be proud of our team's performance.

Team manager, Mary McDonnell is overjoyed with the team's performance. "The trip has been a huge success. The swimmers excelled themselves in some very tough competition here at the championships". With one of Ireland's most successful Paralympic competitors at the helm offering invaluable experience, next years World Swimming Championship has the potential to be a very rewarding affair.

The Irish team will arrive into Dublin Airport on Sunday evening (25th October) at 22.05pm.

For further information contact the Paralympic Council of Ireland Press Officer, John Fulham at mobile: 087-2709182 or e-mail: communications@pcireland.ie