Bryan 7th in 10K Swim at World University Games

Open Water swimmer Chris Bryan has finished 7th at the World University Games 10K swim in Kazan, Russia. The Ennis man swam the 10 Kilometre course at Lake Middle Kaban in 1 hour, 57 minutes and two seconds. Bryan was with the leading pack throughout the race, leading himself at 5 Kilometres and then again with 1500m to go, but the 24 year old was unable to keep with the finishing pack at the finish in what were very hot conditions. Matteo Fulan of Italy was the Gold medal winner in 1:56.12.

Ireland's swimmers have had an impressive Games with Top 8 finishes from all 3 competitors. Speaking after this morning's race, Swim Ireland National Performance Director Peter Banks said "We have had a very successful World University Games, Fiona's Silver medal was great and with four Top 8 finishes from Fiona, Andy and Chris plus 5 Irish Records over the 8 days of competition we can be very happy with the team performance. The quality of our athletes has shown and it is clear that we can compete with the best in the World."

Chris Bryan will now travel directly to Barcelona in preparation for the FINA 10K Open Water World Championships on Monday next 22nd July. Fiona Doyle is returning to Dublin to prepare for the FINA Swimming World Championships which begin on the 28th July while Andrew Meegan will also return to Dublin before travelling to California for the US Open starting on the 30th July.

In Utrecht, Hollland, at the European Youth Olympic Festival, there were five Irish swimmers and Irish mixed relay team in action. Ards swimmer James Brown was first up with a time of 25.99 in the 50m Freestyle. Niamh Kilgallen was 15th overall in the 200m Breaststroke heats touching in 2:44.53 with Benjamin Doyle (2:10.88) 17th in the 200m Backstroke. In the distance Freestyle events, Morgan Berryman was 19th in the 400m event in 4:11.30 while Rachel Bethel swam 9:19.06 in the 800m Freestyle. The mixed relay had the best result of the morning when Benjamin Doyle, James Brown, Rachel Bethel and Niamh Kilgallen teamed up to finish 10th overall in a time of 4:16.89.

Back in Ireland, tomorrow will see the start of the Swim Ireland Age Group Championships and Summer Open Meet. 840 competitors from 96 clubs, including 14 International clubs and 77 athletes from Singapore, Cayman Islands, South Africa, Dubai, Oman, England and Scotland will compete over four days of competition at the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin.