McMahon Secures European Finals Spot

Sycerika McMahon has today secured her second final's spot at the European Swimming Championships in Debrecen, Hungary. McMahon who finished 5th in the 100m Breaststroke final on Tuesday will compete in the 50m Breaststroke final tomorrow (Sunday). The 17 year old Leander swimmer and Irish Record Holder is ranked 2nd going into the final following this afternoon's semi-final in which she swam 31.51. Fiona Doyle also swam this morning's heats but missed out on a semi-final spot finishing in 33.46.

Ireland has so far had a very successful campaign at the European Swimming Championships in Debrecen, Hungary. The competition, which started on Monday and runs until tomorrow (Sunday) has been Swim Ireland's most successful European Championships to date, with three final and seven semi-final swims so far.

Sycerika McMahon and Melanie Nocher were the stars of the show, as both achieved the FINA A time required for Olympic qualification in their respective events. 17 year old McMahon has qualified in the 100m Breaststroke, Nocher in the 200m Backstroke, both had very credible 5th place finishes in the finals of their events.

Another first for the Irish team as the relay quartet of Nocher, McMahon, Bethany Carson and Nuala Murphy qualified for the 4x200m Freestyle final. The ladies finished in sixth place, a fantastic achievement.

All eight squad members of the team have so far qualified into a semi-final or final. Dubliner Karl Burdis, swimming at his first European Event, qualified to the 50m Backstroke semi-final. Canada based Fiona Doyle swan in the semi-final of the 100m and 200m Breaststroke while Kilkenny swimmer Shani Stallard progressed to the 200m Breaststroke semi-final.

The last day of European Competition will see Ireland's 4x100m Medley relay of Sycerika McMahon, Fiona Doyle, Bethany Carson and Melanie Nocher in action in the morning's heats as well as McMahon's 50m Breaststroke final in the afternoon.

In the Canada Cup, Barry Murphy finished 2nd in the final of the 100m Breaststroke in 1:01.81.

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