European Short Course Championships Preview

Ireland's Barry Murphy will lead a six strong team this week as athletes compete at the European Short Course (25m) Swimming Championships from Thursday 12th - Sunday 15th December. 673 athletes from 42 nations will compete over four days of competition at the Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning, Denmark.

Murphy along with Andrew Meegan, Bethany Carson, Brendan Hyland and Shani Stallard are just off the back of the Irish National Championships where all five picked up national titles over the three day competition in Lisburn.

World University Games Silver medallist Fiona Doyle joined the team yesterday as she returned home from her training base in Calgary, Canada. Following the Championships Doyle will travel to Glasgow to join Team Europe as they take on the USA at the Duel in the Pool on the 20th and 21st December.

Barry Murphy is the highest seeded Irish swimmer at the meet with a 4th place ranking in the 50m Breaststroke. He is entered on a time of 26.40, an Irish Record he swam in August this year which won him a Bronze medal at the FINA World Cup Meet in Eindhoven.

Speaking before the team departure Swim Ireland National Performance Director Peter Banks said "This meet will be a very fast meet, already in Europe there has been a lot of fast swimming so Irish swimmers can expect tough competition. We're hoping for some final swims from the likes of Barry (Murphy) and Fiona (Doyle) while Brendan (Hyland), Bethany (Carson), Shani (Stallard) and Andrew (Meegan) have all been swimming well this year and showed great potential at Nationals last week".

Day 1 - Thursday 12th December

Fiona Doyle 50m Breaststroke
Brendan Hyland 200m Individual Medley, 100m Butterfly
Barry Murphy 100m Breaststroke
Shani Stallard 200m IM
Bethany Carson 200m IM, 100m Freestyle
Andrew Meegan 400m Freestyle