Updated at 20.35

IRISH SWIMMER BARRY Murphy has claimed a bronze medal in the 50m breaststroke at the European Short Course Swimming Championships in Denmark today.

In a race in which Damir Dugonjic of Slovenia took gold, Murphy produced a fantastic time of 26.56 to secure a place on the podium, having qualified for the final as just the eighth-fastest swimmer.

Speaking after the race, Murphy said: “I’m really delighted; I knew I was in with a shout off the rankings and the times I posted during the summer, so I tried to keep my cool all day and execute my plan for the swim. It came down to hundreds of a second for the medal and thankfully I got my hand on the wall to secure the bronze.”

The 28-year-old Dubliner is the fourth Irish athlete to claim a medal at the competition over the past four years, with Grainne Murphy, Melanie Nocher and Sycerika McMahon also receiving the honour.

Earlier, Fiona Doyle came 14th overall in the 100m breastroke, while Andrew Meegan knocked almost 10 seconds off the Irish 1,500m record time.

First published at 18.29

Green Thumb/Red Thumb: It’s the week in comments>

Irish swimmer Meegan breaks the national 1500m record by almost 10 seconds>