Euro Swimming Championships preview
Wednesday, 9 December 2009Ireland have sent a 10-strong squad to the European Short Course Swimming Championships in Istanbul, writes John Kenny.
Eight of the squad will be in action in the individual events on the opening day of the four-day meet which gets under way in Istanbul in Turkey on Thursday along with the Irish men's 4 x 50 metres medley relay squad.
The squad however does not include the four Irish US based swimmers, Andrew Bree, Barry Murphy, Karl Burdis and Ryan Harrison - who all swam in the world championships in Rome earlier this year.
Aishling Cooney and Melanie Nocher are first into the water in the heats of the women's 100 metres backstroke in Istanbul.
Cooney recently became the first Irish women to dip under one minute for the event when she swam 59.89 seconds at the Irish National Championships in Abbotstown, while Nocher will use the event to build up to the women's 200 backstroke - an event in which she finished fifth in the final in Croatia last year.
Nocher, Cooney, Niamh O'Sullivan and Claire Dawson will also take part in the heats of the women's 100 metres Freestyle.
Grainne Murphy, the Irish teenage swimming sensation, who won three gold medals at the European junior championships in Prague in July, goes in the women's 200 metres individual medley heats today and she could well go close to beating Michelle DeBrujin's 14-year-old Irish record of 2.13.46
The 16-year-old, who is coached by Ronald Claes in Limerick, may though be looking at the Europeans as a transitional event as she may switch to a textile from the controversial polyurethane body suit that will be banned from the 1 January next year.
Other Irish competitors in action on the opening day are Stephen McQuillan (100 Butterfly) Michael Dawson (100 Breastroke) and Conor Leaney (400 Freestyle), who will also line up with Donal O'Neill in the heats of the 4x50 metres medley relay.
