SWIMMING Irish Trio Excel in Eindhoven & Murphy Claims Second Bronze

Ireland had an exceptional day of competition in the pool today, on day three of the European short course Swimming Championships in Eindhoven, Holland with one bronze medal, three Irish records, two finalists and one semi-finalist. The squad of just three women all performed brilliantly today and all three swam new personal best times.

Just 24 hours after winning a bronze medal in the 800m freestyle last night, world class Grainne Murphy went on to win her second bronze of the championships tonight - this time for the 400m freestyle. Murphy had qualified for the final in 5th position out of her morning heat swim (4.06.67), behind her teammate Melanie Nocher who had qualified in 3rd position (4.06.54). Swimming alongside each other in lanes 2 and 3, it was Murphy however who managed to hold out for the 8 length swim to get her hand on the wall behind silver medallist Agnes Mutina of Hungary, to finish in a new Irish record time of 4.02.86. While Nocher, not known for being a middle distance freestyle specialist touched the wall in a personal best of 4.03.97 (also inside the previous Irish record time) and a fifth place finish.

In the 50m backstroke event, Dubliner Aisling Cooney also had success. In the heats she lowered her own previous Irish record mark to 28.17 to qualify her into 12th position for the semi-final. Cooney then went on to better that time in the semi, producing a quick 27.87 but heartbreakingly missed out on qualification for the final spot by .03 seconds.

All three of the Irish women are in action in the pool tomorrow, Sunday on the final day of competition.

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