Fiona Doyle and Shane Ryan put in impressive performances on the second night of racing at the European Championships at the London Aquatic Centre as Doyle progressed from her semi-final and Ryan placed 8th in his final.
Olympic qualifier Doyle came home in 1 minute 7.99 seconds to finish 4th and secure her place in tomorrow’s 100m Breaststroke Final. The 24 year old swam a fantastic race, having come in to the semi-final in 12th place, to guarantee a lane in the final.
After a nervous wait while the second semi-final took place a delighted Doyle commented “I knew I had more in me after the heat swim, I just needed to shake off all the cobwebs and the worry and once I had the heat swim out of the way I knew exactly what I needed to do. The race again still wasn’t perfect but it was miles better than this morning and we know there’s more to improve on so I’m really looking forward to tomorrow.
World Record holder Ruta Meilutyte is the fastest qualifier going into tomorrow evening’s final in 1:06.16.
In the 100m Backstroke Shane Ryan touched in 8th place in his first European final. Ryan swam a time of 54.49, off his best time this year of 53.93 which would have placed him in the Bronze medal position.
“I took it out too slow and didn’t nail the turn like I wanted to but I’ve just got to move on” Ryan commented after the race, he returns to the pool tomorrow for the 50m Backstroke “I’m really excited for the 50, I’ll definitely be making top 16”.
Frenchman Camille Lacourt claimed Gold in the event in 53.79 seconds with Russia’s Gregor Tarasevich winning silver in 53.89.
It’s a busy day for Irish swimmers in London tomorrow. Brendan Hyland is first up in the 200m Butterfly, his main event. Sycerika McMahon will swim the 200m Individual Medley while Rio bound Nicholas Quinn swims the 200m Breaststroke with Dan Sweeney. Danielle Hill returns to the pool in the 100m Backstroke with Shane Ryan last up in the morning in the 50m Backstroke.
The 100m Breaststroke final featuring Fiona Doyle takes place at 6.57pm.
Press releases will be issued daily.
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Interview: Fiona Doyle
Swimming Schedule: Attached
Day 2 – Results
100m Backstroke Shane Ryan H 54.21 ISR SF 54.39 (8th) F 54.49 (8th)
100m Breaststroke Fiona Doyle H 1:08.79 (12th) SF 1:07.99 (8th)
Mona McSharry H 1:10.27 (30th)
Sycerika McMahon H 1:11.18 (40th)
200m Freestyle Jordan Sloan H 1:49.01 (22nd)
Day 3 – Schedule – Heats
200m Butterfly Brendan Hyland
200m IM Sycerika McMahon
200m Breaststroke Nicholas Quinn, Dan Sweeney
100m Backstroke Danielle Hill
50m Backstroke Shane Ryan
Olympic Games Qualification Met (selection of athletes will be made at a later date)
Olympic Games, 6th – 20th August 2016, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Qualifiers: Fiona Doyle (Swimming), Oliver Dingley (Diving), Shane Ryan (Swimming), Nicholas Quinn (Swimming)
