WORLD CHAMPION COLIN LYNCH and European silver medallist Bethany Firth look to be Ireland’s best chances of medal success on day two of the 2012 Paralympics.
Lynch rides in the bronze final of the men’s individual pursuit C2 cycling later on Friday after he finished fourth in this morning’s qualifying round. The Macclesfield-born rider clocked in at 3:54.946 to set up a ride-off against Laurent Thirionet of France at 3.55pm.
Afterwards, Lynch said that he was “slightly disappointed” but promised that he would be fully focused on a podium finish later today.
Elsewhere in the Velodrome, Catherine Walsh and Fran Meehan set a new Irish record to finish fifth in the Individual 1KM Time Trial B final. Walsh and Meehan finished in 1:12.864 with the event’s other Irish team, Katie-George Dunlevy and Sandra Fitzgerald, finishing seventh in 1:14.315.
In the individual pursuit C3 qualifiers, Enda Smyth set a new national record with his second PB of the Games. Smyth finished in seventh place overall, knocking five seconds off his previous best.
Meanwhile all eyes will be on the Aquatic Centre later this evening when 16-year-old Bethany Firth goes in the final of the 100m backstroke S14. Firth finished second in her heat and fourth-fastest overall, establishing her as a serious medal contender in this evening’s final at 7.38pm.
Before that, Laurence McGivern swims in the final of the 100m backstroke S9 at 6.32pm. The 19-year-old smashed his PB by more than two seconds, finishing fourth in his heat with a time of 1:05.35.
“I came here and wanted to do a PB and I’m delighted that it was enough to get me into the final,” McGivern said afterwards. “I’m up against the world’s best here so that’s what motivated me the most.
“Normally I swim better in the evening.I did a big PB this morning so if I can go better that would be amazing.”
In athletics, Heather Jameson finished seventh in the women’s long jump F37/38 final while in the men’s club throw, 2004 silver medallist John McCarthy failed to qualify for this afternoon’s final.
At Eton Dorney, the Irish rowing team finished fifth in their LTAMix4+ heat and now advance to the repechage on Saturday where a place in the final will be at stake.
In table tennis, Rena McCarron Rooney won her second game in the women’s table tennis singles F1-2 preliminaries but Eimear Breathnach lost in five against France’s Florence Sireau.
In shooting Seán Baldwin’s score of 553 was not enough to qualify for the final of R1 – 10m Air Rifle SH1, while equestrian rider James Dwyer finished fourth in the team test Grade IV event.
Collated Results
Cycling
Men’s Individual Pursuit C2 Qualifiers
Qualifiers: 1. G Liang (CHN) 3:45.828, 2. T Graf (GER) 3.47.799, 3. L Thirionet (FRA) 3.52.955, 4. Colin Lynch (IRL) 3:54.946 – qualifies for bronze medal ride-off
Individual 1KM Time Trial B
Medallists: 1 F Johnson & S Mortin (AUS) 1:08.919, 2. A McGLynn & H Scott (GBR) 1:09.469, 3. P Gray & L Thompson (NZL), 5. Catherine Walsh & Francine Meehan (IRL) 1:12.864, 7. Katie George Dunleavy & Sandra Fitzgerald (IRL) 1:14.315
Men’s Individual Pursuit C3 Qualifiers
Qualifiers: 1. J Berenyi USA 3:36.148, 2. D Nicholas (NZL) 3:36.757, 3. D Kenny (GBR) 3:37.977, 4. A Bbydennov (RSA) 3:43.244, 7. Enda Smyth (IRL) 3:47.542
Swimming
Women’s 100m Backstroke S14 Heats
Qualifiers Heat 2: 1. JJ Applegate (GBR) 1:10.32, 2. Bethany Firth (IRL) 1:10.33
Men’s 100m Backstroke S9 Heats
Qualifiers Heat 2: 1. X Luiu (CHN) 1:04.91, 2. M Peters (GBR) 1:05.12, 3. T Sors (HUN) 1:05.20, 4. Laurence McGivern (IRL) 1:05.35 [qualifies for final at 18.32 tonight]
Men’s 400m Freestyle S8 Heats
Qualifiers Heat 1: 1. S Hynd (GBR) 4:33.25, 2. Y Wang (CHN) 4:37.86, 3. C Burkard (GER) 4:45.40, 4. Jonathan McGrath (IRL) 4:53.25 DNQ
Shooting
Men’s R1-10m Air Rifle Standing-SH1
Leading Qualifiers: 1. C Dong (CHN) 596, J Neumaier (GER) 594, 3. J Jakobsson (SWE) 593, 29. Sean Baldwin (IRL) 553 DNQ
Athletics
Women’s Long Jump F37/38
Medallists: 1. M Goncharova (RSA) 4.84, 2. I Stryshak (UKR) 4.79, 3. Y Cao (CHN) 4.40, 7. Heather Jameson (IRL) 4.11
Men’s Club Throw F31/32/51 (Ongoing)
15. John McCarthy 20.36m
Table Tennis
Women’s Singles F1-2 Preliminaries
Rena McCarron Rooney (IRL) bt M Bargouthi (JOR) v 10-12, 12-14, 11-7, 11-3-, 11-9
F Sireau (FRA) bt Eimear Breathnach (IRL) 12-14, 11-6, 5-11, 12-10, 11-3
Men’s Singles M1 Preliminaries (Ongoing)
Rob Davies (GBR) v Philip Quinlan (IRL) 11-6, 11-6,
Rowing
LTAMix4+ Heats
Heat 2 Results: 1. Great Britain 3:23.59, 2. USA 3:28.36, 3. Canada 3:29.69, 5 Ireland 3:33.95
Equestrian
4. James Dywer (IRL) 69.719%
Paralympics 2012: London bombings survivor makes volleyball bow
The Dolphins QBs are going to take some hammering this season behind what’s left of their offensive line. I was reading elsewhere that the Texans never negotiated a salary with Tunsil before the trade went through. Almost guaranteed they have to give him a massive long-term contract with the leverage he has over them now. The mess they made of trying to poach Caserio from the Patriots to be GM coming back to haunt them.
@john smyth: Texans are dysfunctional but I think they won after all these trades. Franchise left tackles are hard to come by and franchise QBs are even harder to come by. The Texans now have both. They needed to keep Watson healthy long term and not turn into the luck fiasco with the colts. The dolphins got a nice haul also. Will allow them to take tua and some lineman in the draft.
@#JUSTICE4NOEL: True. And they got Clowney out the door as well, something they needed to do even if they didn’t get huge riches for him.
@#JUSTICE4NOEL: Tunsil isn’t a great left tackle but the Dolphins got a great price for him. Texans should have gone after Trent Williams from the Redskins. Watching whether the Dolphins #TankForTua or #TankForTrevor over the next 2 years will be interesting to say the least!!
@Alan Boyle: Tunsil is a top 5 left tackle
@#JUSTICE4NOEL: they gave up more than the bears gave up for mack. While tunsil is an upgrade, he is not a generational player.. not even close.
To the Dolphins credit, if your gonna tank, you might as well go all out and make sure you get Tua, rather than risking winning 3/4 games and missing out
@Taos Hum: With the picks they have, it’s very tempting to wait for Trevor Lawrence. Trading down with a QB needy team and drafting Jerry Jeudy next year would be a great scenario. Definitely risky though
@Gary: Hard to sell two years of tanking though to fans, players and coaches. Get Tua and start building around him with all the picks they have.