Murphy misses out on medal

By John Kenny

Grainne Murphy missed out on a bronze medal when she was finished fourth in the 800 metres freestyle at the European Short Course Swimming Championships in Poland.

The 18-year-old from Wexford recorded a time of 8:19.39, a new Irish record, but she was over three seconds off third spot.

The gold was won by Denmark's Lotte Friis who beat Murphy to the European 1500-metre title in Budapest last year, with Spaniards Erika Villaecija Garcia in silver and Melanie Costa Schmid taking bronze.

Murphy warmed up for this afternoon’s race by competing in the 200m breaststroke heats, but she and Shani Stallard failed to progress.

Aisling Cooney was also out of luck in the 50m butterfly.