Five Irish Records Broken at the World University Games

Weightlifter Kevin D'Arcy (Robert Gordon University) and Archer John Smith (DIT) celebrated success after breaking five Irish records at the World University Games in Shenzhen, China.

Irish weightlifter Kevin D'Arcy managed to smash the current Snatch record of 121kgs three times before setting a new Irish record of 130kgs during competition.

D'Arcy supplied a further record for total points after he finished the Clean and Jerk at 158kgs to bring his tally to 283 and surpass the previous record of 278.

D'Arcy is the first Irish weightlifter to compete at the World University Games and while he was delighted at breaking so many records he expressed his frustration at not being able to go further.

"I am really happy with my Snatch record as my third attempt at 130kg was completed almost perfectly," said D'Arcy.

"But I got a technical mark in the Clean and Jerk so that was set at 153kg and I was disappointed I couldn't take the weights higher."

"Overall I am really proud of my achievements today and hope that I can serve as an example for other Irish weightlifters to come to the Games."

Archer John Smith finished the Men's Individual Compound in 17th place but managed to break his previously held record for arrows shot with a score of 144 out of 150.

Smith was defeated in the second elimination round by the fourth ranked Abhishek Verma from India by a narrow margin but not before Smith broke the record in the first half hour of competition.

The record was previously held by Smith which stood at 142 out of 150 arrows.

"I am really gutted that I didn't do as well as I did last year but to be able to shoot a new Irish record is something to be proud of," said Smith.

Meanwhile, Irish swimmer Karl Burdis celebrated Ireland's highest ranking in the pool by placing 13th in the 50m Backstroke heats with a final time of 26.27.

Teammate Fiona Doyle, who won her heat in the 100m Freestyle yesterday, placed 14th after completing the 200m Breaststroke with a time of 2:32.50.

Ryan Harrison finished his 100m Freestyle heat in 51.39 to place 28th while Bethany Carson and Niamh O'Sullivan placed 31st and 34th respectively in the 200m Freestyle Heats.