Aisling Cooney continued her preparations for the upcoming European Short Course Championships in Istanbul next month, with an impressive win in the women's 200 metres backstroke on the opening day of competition at the Irish Championships at the NAC in Abbotstown, writes RTÉ Sport's John Kenny.
Cooney, one of the 10 strong squad of four men and six women who will travel to Turkey in December, won the 200 backstroke final comfortably in a time of 2:12.02.
The time was well short of Melanie Nocher's Irish senior record, but a good build up to Cooney's favoured events in the 50m and 100m backstroke, which take place later in the week.
Conor Leaney of Larne, another of the Istanbul bound squad, was a comfortable winner of the mens 400m freestyle.
Leaney, the 19-year-old who competed for Ireland at the world championships in Rome in July, clocked a time of 3 minutes 54.19 seconds.
Both Leaney and Cooney wore the polyurethane body suits that dominated the headlines during the World Championships in Italy this summer, but which will be banned by FINA early next year after a storm of protests about their use since their introduction to swimming two years ago.
The 14-year-old Sycerika McMahon of Leander, showed that she remains one for the future when she won the women's 400m freestyle in a new Irish junior record of 4:14.90, to claim the only Irish record set on the opening day of competition at the NAC.
