MAYO’S NICHOLAS QUINN excelled in the second half of his 200m breastroke heat in Rio today as he claimed first place, but it was not enough to reach the semi-finals.
The 23-year-old was second at the half-way point, but overtook home favourite Tates Cerdeira and beat Switzerland’s Tannick Keyser to the wall in 2:11.67.
Quinn was still in the top 16 before the final heat, but a searing pace set by Anton Chupkov set a new Russian record of 2:07.93 and helped edge Quinn down to 19th place.
“Mixed emotions with that,” Quinn told The42 after emerging from the pool.
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“You want to come to the Olympics and swim a PB, but that’s so hard to do.So to come in here and win that heat, I felt I left everything in the pool, so I’m happy from that point of view.
“This whole year’s about leaving no stone unturned. So whatever happens now, whether I make it or not, I can hold my head up high.”
'I left everything in the pool': Nicholas Quinn walks away from Rio 2016 with head held high after heat victory
MAYO’S NICHOLAS QUINN excelled in the second half of his 200m breastroke heat in Rio today as he claimed first place, but it was not enough to reach the semi-finals.
The 23-year-old was second at the half-way point, but overtook home favourite Tates Cerdeira and beat Switzerland’s Tannick Keyser to the wall in 2:11.67.
Quinn was still in the top 16 before the final heat, but a searing pace set by Anton Chupkov set a new Russian record of 2:07.93 and helped edge Quinn down to 19th place.
“Mixed emotions with that,” Quinn told The42 after emerging from the pool.
“You want to come to the Olympics and swim a PB, but that’s so hard to do.So to come in here and win that heat, I felt I left everything in the pool, so I’m happy from that point of view.
“This whole year’s about leaving no stone unturned. So whatever happens now, whether I make it or not, I can hold my head up high.”
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Breaststroke Ireland Nicholas Quinn Olympian Olympic Games Olympics Rio 2016 Swimming team ireland