Róisín Ní Riain has claimed Ireland's first medal at the 2024 Paralympic Games with a silver in the women’s S13 100m backstroke at a boisterous La Defense Arena in Paris.
The 19-year-old, who finished fourth in yesterday’s S13 100m butterfly final, looked strong throughout, reaching the turn just behind world record holder Gia Pergolini of the United States.
The Limerick woman was unable to close the gap, but a strong last 50m ensured she held off the challenge of Italy’s Carlotta Gilli to take second in a time of 1:07.27.
With no heat in the S13 discipline, Ní Riain was viewed as a strong contender given her status as the reigning world champion over the distance.
With tricolours dotted right around the arena and the Irish supporters in full voice, the UL student made a positive start from lane five to pursue Pergolini.
On her seventh Paralympic final – she reached five in Tokyo as well as last night's race – the teenager finished strongly to make her first podium appearance at the Games.
"It was really nice to be able to get out there and win a medal and to have all of my friends and family be able to watch makes it even more exciting, hearing them when i came out as well makes all the difference," she told RTÉ Sport.
Ní Riain said she felt fully focused and calm after getting her first run out at the venue yesterday in the butterfly final.
"To be honest, last night I was lying in bed and I was just really excited to get out tonight.
"I think that's a really nice way to be. I wasn’t too nervous. I don’t get overly nervous. I get more excited and I’m genuinely very excited every time I get out to race, especially when the backstroke is probably my favourite event."
Róisín Ní Riain reacts after claiming a silver medal in the women's S13 100m backstroke#RTEparalympics #paris2024
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 30, 2024
📺Watch @rte2 @rteplayer
📱Updates https://t.co/ELWb2w3nNp pic.twitter.com/np6TMzbky4
It marks a continued upward trajectory for the vision impaired athlete.
Having won a bronze on her major championships debut at the Europeans in 2021, Ní Ríain qualified for five finals at the Tokyo Games on her Paralympic debut.
A five-medal haul at this year’s European Championships elevated her status further.
Ní Ríain will have a short break before returning to the pool next Tuesday for the 200m individual medley, with her fourth and final event, the 100m breaststroke rounding off her Paralympics two days later.
Less than half an hour after Ní Ríain's silver exploits, Team Ireland went in search of a second medal, but Ellen Keane’s bid for glory fell just short as she finished fourth in the women’s SB8 breaststroke final.
Competing in her fifth and final Games, Keane was forced to relinquish the gold she won in Tokyo as she was edged out of bronze by Viktoriia Ishchiulova.
Spain’s world champion Anastasiya Dmytriv Dmytriv, fastest qualifier from this morning’s heats, took it out from the start to continue her dominance, the 16-year-old winning with over a second to spare from Great Britain’s Brock Whiston.
Third at the turn, Keane was locked in a battle with Ishchiulova, with the Neutral Paralympic Athlete doing just enough to take the final podium position.
Keane’s time of 1:24.69 was slower than her heat performance and the Clontarf woman admitted she had nothing more to give.
Ellen Keane misses out on a bronze medal by the narrowest of margins in the SB8 100m breaststroke final #RTEparalympics #paris2024
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 30, 2024
📺Watch @rte2 @rteplayer
📱Updates https://t.co/ELWb2w3nNp pic.twitter.com/dSTug51OZ0
"If I got out of the water and I still had energy and still was able to walk I think I would be annoyed ay myself, but there is nothing more I could have done there," she told RTÉ Sport.
"I gave it my all and really tried. I obviously would have loved to have made the podium on my last Games, but it just wasn't to be."
After the highs of Tokyo, the 29-year-old reflected on her desire to remain at the elite level of her sport, all the more apparent with two of the medal winners still in their teens.
"The past three years, when you win the gold medal and you reach the top, it is hard to kind of find the motivation," she said.
"In Ireland, swimming is very much a young person's sport. There are only five or six us, able bodied and Paralympic, who are over the age of 26, and I am 29, so it can be quite lonely."
Next week will see Keane round off her decorated Paralympic career, but acknowledged her final chance to medal before retirement has now passed her by.
"I’m the second slowest entry in the 100 backstroke," she said. "For me it was just about having another event so that this wasn't my last swim, that I could enjoy it and take the pressure off and be in the moment.
"I’m looking forward to that and even tonight we still got a medal in the pool. I’m really happy for Róisín. I was sitting watching it in the call room screaming at the TV and I’m really glad she was able to get the medal for Ireland."
Follow the RTÉ Sport WhatsApp channel for the best news, interviews, analysis and features, as well as details of our sports coverage across all RTÉ platforms.
