Ireland claimed two medals on the opening day of competition at the 2026 Para Swimming World Series in Barcelona, with Dearbhaile Brady taking silver in the 50m Butterfly (S6) final and Luke Brennan scooping a youth silver in the 100m Freestyle (S8).
Brady delivered a powerful performance in her final, storming through the water in 36.48 to stop the clock in second place, shaving 0.22 seconds off her heat swim (36.70).
"I feel quite good," she said afterwards. "I mean, it's still off my PB, but I'm happy with it. If you have a heat and a final, you always want to come back faster.
Brennan, who made his international debut for Ireland in the same competition last year, clocked an impressive 1:07.25 to finish second in his 100m freestyle (S8) final.
Also swimming in the event was Irish team-mate Luke O’Donoghue, who clocked 1:05.39 to finish in fourth place.
"I’m delighted – it’s an amazing achievement," Brennan said afterwards. "Last year I didn’t even make a final in this event; this year, to get a silver shows I’ve improved a lot. Wearing the Irish flag is the biggest honour to me. The medals are great, but the most important thing to me is wearing the Irish flag on my swim cap."
Decorated Paralympian Róisín Ní Riain got her meet underway with a new lifetime best of 1:01.67 in the 100m Freestyle (S13). The National Centre (Limerick) swimmer returned to action tonight, going 1:01.68 in the final.
Ellie Lynch clocked a new lifetime best in this morning’s heat with 1:13.19. in the 100m freestyle youth final, but couldn’t repeat the trick in the final where she posted a time of 1:15.12.
"To swim a new personal best this morning fills me with confidence – I was really happy with it, and I hope I can build on it for the rest of the competition," Lynch said afterwards.
"I’m looking forward to resting and recovering ahead of my main event on Friday (100m backstroke)."
Two-time Paralympian Barry McClements swam 1:01.18 but failed to progress from the 100m freestyle (S9) heats, while the aforementioned Dearbhaile Brady recorded 1:19.34 in the S6 class of the same event.
Maya Hogan of Asgard SC clocked 1:11.49 in the S10 class of the 100m freestyle.
