DEAF SPORTS Deaflympics Waterpolo/Swimming

Today we had a Water Polo rest day but sadly for the swimmers, it was business as usual. Both swimmers, Nolan and McArdle were scheduled to take part in the 200m Freestyle heats race in the morning. Upon arrival at the pool, they set about in warming up in the lanes allocated. Turner the coach did the usual work in timing and instructing the swimmers on improving the starting techniques.

Soon the moment of truth came along for both swimmers. Vincent McArdle started at lane 7 in Heat 5 and clocked a personal best time of 2 minutes flat in the race. He was well pleased with the outcome but his initial aim was to have the race done under 2 minutes. By then he was definitely in the top 8 and it boils down to the outcomes of both Heat 6 & 7 races. Eoin Nolan started at lane 3 in Heat 7 and off he went. It was a tough contest since he was competing against the current world record holder as well as the Italian sensational who already have 3 gold medals under his belt. The outcome was satisfactory as he clocked 1.59.37 in the race, coming third after the competitors above. After taking account of all the heats, Vincent came 9th overall and narrowly missed out on a place in the final. However, he competed in the B Final. It was a chance for him to beat the 2 minutes mark. Eoin, meanwhile, made it through to the main final.

After the morning session, we all headed back to the hotel to get some rest and chilled before the finals scheduled to take place from 5pm onwards. The Water Polo players took a trip to Taipei City to support the Irish badminton team before undertaking a light training session at Songshan Swimming centre. They were determined to work on the man up tactics as it was vital to score on every occasion they are a man up in the match.

Soon the time came for us to pop back to the Hsinchu Swimming Plaza for the finals. By then Eoin and Vincent were all set for the finals. Eoin was struggling with knee injury sustained from accidentally hitting a low table as well as a black eye courtesy of the water polo match against the Germans. However, the main objective was to win a medal regardless of any injuries he may have!

Both swimmers warmed up and prepared for the finals. Vincent went first for the B Final race and got off to a good start but the last 100m was rather difficult. He came 4th in the race clocking a time of 2.00.46 minutes. Disappointment was written all over his face but time will come when he will break the 2 minutes mark. Next up was Eoin for the main final. He was allocated a place on lane 7. A good start was maintained by him and that gave him a significant advantage for the first 50m but afterwards he started to lag behind some swimmers. However, this was short lived as he powered up to the finish behind the two rivals. A Bronze medal was the result and it was Ireland's second medal. Eoin looked shattered afterwards and rightly so as the past few days have been heavy what with taking part in both codes of sports.

This is definitely not the last we will see him in swimming as he, along with Vincent, are scheduled to take part in the main event of the week - 50m Freestyle on Sunday. That leaves them both free tomorrow to focus on the Water Polo semi final match against Hungary.

"I knew he could do it. He definitely has the ability to do well on Sunday's 50m Freestyle and Vincent can equally do well too." quoted Alan Turner, their coach.

"I am extremely pleased with both swimmers, they have repeatedly shown that they can still compete at high level in Swimming along with Water Polo." says Donal Desmond, Swimming Director.