SHANE RYAN IS Ireland’s only hope in the final of the men’s 100m backstroke at the European Swimming Championships in London tonight.
The 22-year-old booked his place in the final yesterday, taking the eighth and final space, after finishing fifth in his semi-final. Having set an Irish record in his heat, Ryan qualified for the final with a time of 54.39 seconds.
To feature on the podium, Ryan will more than likely have to break another Irish record, and do it from the outside lane, quite a challenge for the former US swimmer who declared for Ireland last year.
Just last week, he received his FINA clearance to swim for Ireland, and since reaching the standard qualifying time for Rio in March, he has proven himself as a strong Irish Olympic hope.
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Ryan in action in yesterday's semi-final. Andrea Staccioli / INPHO
Andrea Staccioli / INPHO / INPHO
Greece’s Apostolos Christou is the fastest qualifier for tonight’s final with a time of 53.36, with Russia’s Grigory Tatasevich and Italian Simone Sabbioni also looking to be in with a shout of taking the title.
Ryan’s 16-year-old teammate Conor Ferguson failed to reach the final. The Larne swimmer was unlucky not to finish within the Olympic qualifying A standard, after hitting a time of 54.99 seconds in the semi-final, 0.63 outside the target.
Four other Irish swimmers were in action today earlier today. Olympic swimmer Fiona Doyle is through to tonight’s semi-finals of the women’s 100m breaststroke. She qualified with a time of 1:08.79 in 12th place overall.
Fiona Doyle through to SF of 100Breast in 12th #London2016
Mona McSharry and Sycerika McMahon also swam in the heats this morning but failed to qualify for the final.
Jordan Sloane was unlucky not to progress from his 200m freestyle heat, missing out on a semi-final spot by 0.13 of a second. He did record a lifetime best time of 1:49.01 though.
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Ireland's Ryan to compete in 100m backstroke final, Doyle through to breaststroke semi
SHANE RYAN IS Ireland’s only hope in the final of the men’s 100m backstroke at the European Swimming Championships in London tonight.
The 22-year-old booked his place in the final yesterday, taking the eighth and final space, after finishing fifth in his semi-final. Having set an Irish record in his heat, Ryan qualified for the final with a time of 54.39 seconds.
To feature on the podium, Ryan will more than likely have to break another Irish record, and do it from the outside lane, quite a challenge for the former US swimmer who declared for Ireland last year.
Just last week, he received his FINA clearance to swim for Ireland, and since reaching the standard qualifying time for Rio in March, he has proven himself as a strong Irish Olympic hope.
Greece’s Apostolos Christou is the fastest qualifier for tonight’s final with a time of 53.36, with Russia’s Grigory Tatasevich and Italian Simone Sabbioni also looking to be in with a shout of taking the title.
Ryan’s 16-year-old teammate Conor Ferguson failed to reach the final. The Larne swimmer was unlucky not to finish within the Olympic qualifying A standard, after hitting a time of 54.99 seconds in the semi-final, 0.63 outside the target.
Four other Irish swimmers were in action today earlier today. Olympic swimmer Fiona Doyle is through to tonight’s semi-finals of the women’s 100m breaststroke. She qualified with a time of 1:08.79 in 12th place overall.
Mona McSharry and Sycerika McMahon also swam in the heats this morning but failed to qualify for the final.
Jordan Sloane was unlucky not to progress from his 200m freestyle heat, missing out on a semi-final spot by 0.13 of a second. He did record a lifetime best time of 1:49.01 though.
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Euro Vision European Swimming Championships London Shane Ryan Swimming