Paralympics Update - Day Two

Cycling
Colin Lynch has qualified for the bronze medal ride off in the paracycling Individual Pursuit C2 at the Velodrome. Lynch who qualified in fourth spot with a time of 3:45.946 will face Laurent Thirionet of France. China's Guihua Liang set a new world record of 3:54.828 in qualifying. Speaking afterwards Colin said he was "slightly disappointed with his result but will focus on the bronze medal ride give it all in the bronze final."

Cyclists Catherine Walsh and Fran Meehan set a new Irish record of 1:12.864 to finish fifth in the Individual 1KM Time Trial B final in the Velodrome. Katie-George Dunlevy and Sandra Fitzgerald competing in the same event also set a new PB and finished in seventh position in a time of 1:14.315

Cyclist Enda Smyth set his second PB of the games clocking 3:47.542 in the Individual Pursuit C3 Qualifiers. Smyth knocked 5 seconds off his previous national record and finished seventh overall.

Swimming

Bethany Firth swimming in the 100m Backstroke S14 Heats in the Aquatic Centre finished second in her heat .01 behind Great Britain's Jessica-Jane Applegate. Firth was the fourth fastest in the heats this morning and advances as a serious medal contender in tonight's final. (19:38)

Laurence McGivern swimming in the 100m Backstroke S9 Heats posted a new PB time of 1:05.35 to finish fourth in his heat and qualifying for tonight's final (18:32). The 19 year old shaved two seconds on his previous best time and qualified just ahead of World and Paralympic Champion Matthew Cowdry.

McGivern commented "I came here and wanted to do a PB and I'm delighted that it was enough to get me into the final, I'm up against the world's best here so that's what motivated me the most". On this evening's final "Normally I swim better in the evening, I did a big PB this morning so if I can go better that would be amazing".

Jonathan McGrath's Paralympic Games comes to an end after swimming a season's best of 4:53.25 in the 400m Freestyle S8 Heats which was not enough to book him a spot in the final.

Athletics

At a wet and windy Olympic Stadium, 15-year-old Heather Jameson finished 7th in the Women's Long Jump F37/38 Final. The Garristown native jumped a new PB of 4.11m improving her previous best by 21cm on her second attempt.

Corkman John McCarthy, a silver medallist from 2004, competed in the Club Throw qualifying this morning but his throw of 20.36m was not enough for him to advance to the final which is still ongoing.

Rowing

The Irish Rowing Team consisting of Kevin Du Toit, Shane Ryan, Sarah Caffrey, Anne-Marie McDaid and Helen Arbuthnot finished fifth in a time of 3:33.95 in Heat 2 of the LTAMix4+ competition at Eton Dorney. The Irish team now advances to the Repechage on Saturday to try to book qualification for the final.

Table Tennis

At the ExCel Arena Rena McCarron Rooney and Eimear Breathnach were back in action in the Women's Table Tennis Singles F1-2 Preliminaries. McCarron Rooney battled back from two games down to beat Jordan's Maha Bargouthi 10-12, 12-14, 11-7, 11-3-, 11-9 while Breathnach lost her hard fought game against France's Florence Sireau 12-14, 11-6, 5-11, 12-10, 11-3

Shooting

Seلn Baldwin competing in the R1 - 10m Air Rifle SH1 qualifying shot a score of 553 but need a score of 589 or better to advance to the final at the Royal Artillery Barracks.

Speaking afterwards Sean said "I'm not happy with my score but am pleased with how I felt in the arena, it is important preparation for my main event tomorrow."

Equestrian

In the Team Test, Grade IV, James Dwyer put in a solid performance score of 69.719% to finish 4th of 14.