Swimming Paralympic World Championships

For Immediate Release Monday 16th August 2010

IRISH SWIMMERS EXCEL ON DAY 2 OF THE IPC PARALYMPIC
WORLD SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS IN HOLLAND

Dublin's Ellen Keane achieved an impressive double today where she reached the finals of both the 200m Individual Medley and 100m Breaststroke while Northern Ireland's Jonathan Cummings set a new personal best to finish 5th the final of the 100m Breaststroke.

Having qualified 6th fastest in the heats of both events in this mornings session, Keane's first race of the evening was the 200m Individual Medley (SM9) Class where she finished in sixth position with a time of 2.46.58 behind the eventual winner, world renowned swimmer and Paralympic medallist, South Africa's Natalie Do Toit. The result was an improvement on her 8th place finish in the same event at last years European Championships in Iceland.

However, the teenager was back in the pool just over one hour later for her second final of the evening, the 100m breaststroke (SM8) Class) finishing 7th in a time of 1.28.64, which was slower than this morning's heats. Speaking after the tonight's finals Keane commented, "It was a great way to finish my swims here at the world championships swimming in 2 finals, I swan a little slower tonight then I did in the heats this morning, but I have learned a lot from competing here to take away for my preparations towards London 2012."

Later in the evening, Jonathan Cummings from Coalisland, Co. Tyrone blazed a trail in the 100m Breaststroke (SB5 Class) finish 5th in a new personal best time. Ranked 6th fastest going into this evenings final Cummings, who is back after time off with a knee injury, called on all his reserves to finish in a time of 1.54.77, over 6.3 seconds off his previous mark. A delighted Cummings said afterwards, "It was great to be back competing at world level again after a difficult spell with a knee injury last year, making a final and swimming a lifetime best I can't complain with that."

Commenting after today's performances Lead Coach Jim Laverty said "Excellent swims in the heats this morning to qualify for finals tonight. Ellen worked hard in the turns so it's adding experience for her to take away from here. As for Jonathan, he swam a superbly to qualify for tonight's final, where he rose to the occasion and used all his experience to pull a pb out in the final and finish one place higher in 5th. We are very happy with the performances."

Competition continues tomorrow, August 17th, at the Pieter van den Hoogenband swimming stadium in Eindhoven with a busy day for the Irish Swimming Team with 5 athletes in action. The Irish athletes are:

Stephen Campbell, 100m Freestyle & 100m Butterfly
James Hamilton, 100m Backstroke
Matthew Bell, 100m Backstroke
Jonathan McGrath, 400m Freestyle
Gina Lourens, 400m Freestyle

ENDS

For further information contact:
John Fulham, PCI Communications Officer, 087-2709182
communications@pcireland.ie


Also visit:
www.pcireland.ie
www.ocsireland.com
www.london2012.com

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Key Upcoming Competitions for Irish Paralympic Athletes
Aug 15th - 21st: IPC Swimming World Championships, Eindhoven
Aug 19th - 22nd: UCI ParaCycling Road World Championships, Canada
Aug 15th - 29th: CPISRA European Football 7-a side Championships, Glasgow
Oct 5th - 10th: FEI World Equestrian Games (Para-Dressage), Kentucky
Oct 25th - Nov 3rd: ITTF Table Tennis World Championships, Korea
Oct 31st - Nov 7th: FISA World Rowing Championships, New Zealand
Jan 21st - Jan 30th: IPC Athletics World Championships, New Zealand

Key events timeline prior to London 2012 Paralympic Games
Present - June 2012: Paralympic Games Qualification ongoing
August 29th 2010: Two years to go to opening ceremony of the 2012 Paralympic Games
Nov 2010: Renault Ireland Team 2012 Training Camp
Dec 2010: Appointment of Team Managers for London 2012
Apr & Nov 2011: Renault Ireland Team 2012 Training Camps
August 2011: PCI's Pre-Games Familiarisation Training Camp, Portugal
Apr & July 2012: Renault Ireland Team 2012 Training Camps
June 2012: Official Announcement of Irish Paralympic Team
Aug 2012: Irish Team Pre-Games Holding Camp, Portugal
Aug. 29th - Sept. 9th 2012: London 2012 Paralympic Games
Nov/Dec 2012: OCS Irish Paralympic Awards

Significant Championship Performances by Irish athletes since the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games

Athletics:
Jason Smyth - 14th overall in the 100m at the 2010 IAAF European Championships in Barcelona.

Boccia:
BC3 Pair of John Cronin, Steven Valentine & Gerard O'Grady - Silver medallists at the 2009 European Boccia Championships, Portugal.
BC1 Padraic Moran, Gold Medallist at the 2010 Boccia World Championships in Portugal.

Cycling:
Women's Tandem of Catherine Walsh & Caroline Ryan - Silver Medallists at the 2009 UCI Para-Cycling World Track Championships in Manchester.

Football:
Ranked 5th in the world following the 2009 CP-ISRA International Championships.

Swimming:
Darragh McDonald - Double silver medallist at the 2009 IPC Swimming European Championships in Iceland.


Additionally:
The Paralympic Council of Ireland was founded in 1987 and is responsible for the preparation and management of the Irish team in the lead up to, and at, the Paralympic Games, and the development of Paralympic sport in Ireland.

Olympic style games for elite athletes with a physical disability were first held in Rome in 1960. Today, the Paralympic Games are a major global sporting event for elite athletes with disabilities. The Games emphasise the participants' athletic achievements rather than their disability. Athletes compete in various classes of competition, and are classified according to their disability.

The movement has grown dramatically since its first days. The number of athletes participating in Summer Paralympic Games has increased from 400 athletes from 23 countries in Rome in 1960 to over 4000 athletes from 153 countries in Beijing in 2008. London will host the 2012 Games. Ireland has a proud tradition at the Games, winning 5 medals (3 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze) in Beijing 2008.

2012 Irish Paralympic Team Sponsors:
Renault Ireland
O'Neills
OCS Ireland


2012 Irish Paralympic Team Partners:
Irish Sports Council
Institute of Sport
Sport Northern Ireland
Waterford Institute of Technology

--
John Fulham
Communications Officer
Paralympic Council of Ireland

Mobile - 00353-87-2709182
Email - communications@pcireland.ie
www.pcireland.ie