Ellen Keane and Ailbhe Kelly have failed to reach the finals of their Paralympic disciplines in the pool in Rio today.
Keane fell short in the SM9 200m IM final after finishing fourth in her heat this afternoon, although the Dublin woman admitted she wasn't surprised to miss out.
Keane clocked a time of 2:41.17, which left her 11th overall out of three heats. Keane started well and had a two-second lead at halfway mark, but was reeled in in the Breaststroke leg.
The Clontarf woman’s heat was won by Sarai Gascon of Spain in 2:37.71, with China’s Jialing Xu second and Claire Cashmore of Britain third.
Afterwards Keane admitted she didn't expect to reach the final, such is the improvement in times over the last year.
The 21-year-old said: “I’m really tired and I actually feel a little bit sick after that. I had seen the start sheets a couple of days ago and... like I won a bronze medal in that event last year and even the time that I won it in last year I knew wasn’t enough to make the final.
“For a Paralympic sport it has grown so much, even in the past year.
"So I didn’t really feel much pressure going into it and I just tried to swim my own race, but I think my legs just gave in and it just didn’t come together at the end of the day.”
21-year-old Keane still has three events to come - the 100m Backstroke, 100m Butterfly and the 100m Breaststroke.
Kelly finished 7th in her S8 100m Freestyle heats in a time of 1:2.65 - 14th overall, meaning she won't make the final, but she will be back on Tuesday for her favoured event, the 100m Backstroke.
Afterwards Kelly, who finished in seventh in her heats in the 400m Freestyle earlier this week, was happier this time out despite finishing lower down the field.
She said: “I definitely enjoyed it a lot more than I enjoyed my 400. I wasn’t as nervous and even though it probably wasn’t the best time, I’m not really disappointed.
“I enjoyed it a lot, I was a lot more comfortable and I’m enjoying the experience and that’s what I’m here for."
