LAST UPDATE | 27 Apr
IRELAND’S RÓISÍN NÍ RIAIN signed off at the Para Swimming European Championships with silver in the 200m individual medley SM13 final — her fifth medal of a sensational week in Madeira.
Ní Riain took silver in a time of 2:31.60 behind gold medallist Carlotta Gilli of Italy (2:25.41).
“It was a long week but some good racing,” Ní Riain said afterwards. “Loads of things to take away and work on over the next couple of months, so definitely positive.”
Earlier, Ellen Keane won silver in the 100m Breaststroke SB8 final, while Nicole Turner’s silver in the 50m butterfly S6 final took Team Ireland’s medal tally for the week to 12.
Keane finished in a time of 1:24.19 in Portugal, behind gold medallist Anastasiya Dmytriv of Spain.
“I tried so hard there,” the Dubliner said. “This is just an opportunity to try and race hard and learn from mistakes.
“I gave it my all there and didn’t hold anything back. Hopefully now I can look at what I can improve on and I definitely think it’s that last 25 metres, I just tired up so much. I’ve got just over three months to prepare for [the Paralympic Games in] Paris and hopefully those times will get faster.”
Congratulations Ellen! 🥈#Madeira2024 https://t.co/bYAmqUWmnm
— Paralympics Ireland (@ParalympicsIRE) April 27, 2024
Meanwhile, Turner had gold snatched from her grasp in the final strokes of the 50m butterfly S6 final as she was reeled in by the fast-finishing Verena Schott of Germany.
Schott finished strongly to win in 37.39, just over three-tenths of a second ahead of Turner (37.70).
Dearbhaile Brady, Ireland’s other finalist, finished fourth in 38.49.
Elsewhere, Paul O’Donovan recovered from a capsized boat to finish in fifth place of his heat and book a place in tomorrow’s B final of the men’s Single Sculls at the European Rowing Championships in Hungary.
The Olympic rowing champion, who won gold in the Double Sculls with Fintan McCarthy in Tokyo, was vying for a medal in this event for the first time at these championships.
The start of the race was delayed as a result of O’Donovan’s early misfortune and he was unable to earn a top-three finish for a place in the A final.
He will be back in action for the B final at 9.03am tomorrow.
