SWIMMING Murphy Finishes 5th in World Championship Semi-Final

Barry Murphy finished in 5th place in his 50m breaststroke semi-final tonight at the World Swimming Championships in Rome, Italy. His finishing time of 27.38 was just .14 slower than the time it took to make tomorrow evening's final and put him in 13th place overall after the semi-finals.


Speaking after the race, Murphy commented "I know where I made the mistake in that race - my last 5 metres. I enjoyed the moment though, racing in a World Championships semi-final and I just have to put the 50m behind me now and focus on the 100m freestyle tomorrow."


Earlier this morning, the 23 year-old Dubliner established a new Irish Senior record and Championship record in the event - the Championship record being taken away from him heats later.


Irish swimmers in action tomorrow are Aisling Cooney (50m backstroke), Ryan Harrison and Barry Murphy (100m freestyle) and Grainne Murphy (200m butterfly).


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