Swimming European Senior Championships DAY 2

Harrison Narrowly Misses Out on European Final
Press Release

Budapest, 10 August 2010 - 21-year old Ryan Harrison was Ireland's hope for a final today on day 2 of the European Swimming Championships in the hot Hungarian capital, Budapest. Having set up the day with a respectable 1.49.80 heat swim this morning and qualifying 11th fastest for the semi-final, he was looking ahead to the evening to put together another good race which would hopefully see him through to tomorrow's final.

"Without a doubt, I'm not swimming tonight just to go fast - I'm swimming tonight to make that final," commented the optimistic young swimmer, who has based his training at Swim Ireland's NAC-High Performance Centre this summer, following the heats.

A sub-1.49 swim was what was needed if he was to qualify for the final, and, after a gutsy swim, his second all time best in fact, he finished .12 shy of that, touching the wall in 1.49.04 - tenth place overall and second alternate reserve for the final.

"It felt a lot better than this morning's swim; it went a lot smoother, I was a lot smarter, my stroke felt great and I'm pumped to go almost a second faster than this morning," said Harrison after the race. "I definitely didn't have any more left in the tank but there's obviously bits and pieces of the swim that I could have tightened up on - my finish might have been a bit better."

Harrison's final event at this Championships is the 100m freestyle on Thursday morning and following his return to Ireland on Monday, the former University of Tennessee swimmer has decided to continue to make Ireland his training base over the next few months, in the lead up to the Commonwealth Games, in India this autumn.

"I owe a lot to the Irish Sports Council, they've been great and have facilitated my training in the NAC over the summer. I'll be based in Dublin over the next few months, training under Paul Donovan who's been doing a great job."

In other Irish races today, Bangor's Clare Dawson finished her heat of the 100m freestyle in 57.72 - just over a second slower than her personal best. And although disappointed with her overall time, the University of Stirling student is now looking ahead to her main event, the 200m freestyle which is on Friday.

"I'm a bit disappointed, but it was my first swim of the meet and it's good to get in and get used to the pool, get used to the new suit and prepare for the 200m. I think my 100 has suffered a little bit due to a lot of the work I've been doing on pace for the 200m, so we'll see what happens on Friday," reflected the 22 year-old.

In other news today, Andrew Bree withdrew from the 200m Individual Medley heats this morning to better concentrate on his premiere event, the 200m breaststroke which is tomorrow. Grainne Murphy has scratched from the 200m Individual Medley tomorrow for the same reason - to focus on her 800m freestyle event. World Champion and European record holder Therese Alshammar successfully defended her European title in the Women's 50m butterfly, winning the event in a quick 25.63. There was a new European Championship record in the Men's 100m breaststroke by Alexander Oen Dale from Norway, who won the event in 59.20.

Looking ahead to tomorrow, Grainne Murphy goes in the 800m freestyle. Melanie Nocher is up in the 100m backstroke, and Andrew Bree is in the pool for his main event, the 200m breaststroke. Heats commence at 09.30 local time/08.30 Irish time.

- END -

Issued by Swim Ireland, whose High Performance Programme is supported and funded by the Irish Sports Council

Day 2 Irish Team Results ROUNDUP:
M 200m freestyle: R. Harrison 1.49.80 (Heat), 1.49.04 (Semi-final)
W 100m freestyle: C. Dawson 57.72, (Heat) 44th place