LAST UPDATE | 29 Aug
IRELAND’S RÓISÍN NÍ Ríain just missed out on a bronze medal after finishing fourth in the women’s S13 100m butterfly final at the Paralympic Games in Paris this evening.
An impressive performance saw the 19-year-old finish in 1:06.04, just outside her personal best.
The gold medal went to Italy’s Carlotta Gilli at 1:03.27. USA’s Grace Nuhfer was second and Muslima Odilova of Uzbekistan took third at 1:05.43.
“Look, it was a good swim,” Ní Ríain told RTÉ. “Of course every time you get in you’d like to PB, it’s .04 off my PB so probably as close as you could get.
I’d probably like to have been a bit faster tonight but for day one it’s a good start and hopefully I can build on that for the rest of the week.
“It’s a good enough time. As I said, it would have been nice to be a little bit quicker but I’m definitely pleased with that.”
Ní Ríain reached the final after finished fourth in a competitive heat, her time of 1:06.40 placing her fifth overall in qualifying.
The Limerick swimmer has enjoyed a strong season, winning gold S13 100m backstroke and the SB13 100m breaststroke in a five-medal haul at the European Championships.
Ní Ríain will be back in action in Paris tomorrow when she swims in the S13 100m backstroke final, her favoured event.
Earlier, Nicole Turner finished sixth in the S6 50m freestyle final.
Swimming in lane two, the 22-year-old Laois native clocked a time of 35.65.
China’s Yuyan Jiang took gold with 32.59, setting a new Paralympic record time.
Turner had qualified for the final after placing third in her morning heat, advancing as the fifth-fastest qualifier overall with a time of 35.35.
Turner won a silver medal at the Tokyo Games in the 50m butterfly, and bronze in the same event at the 2022 World Championships. Earlier this year, she landed a joint-gold in the 50m freestyle at the European Championships.
Turner will now turn her attention to the S6 50m butterfly. The Laois swimmer is back in the pool for the S6 50m butterfly heats on Tuesday.
