Grainne Murphy picked up her second bronze medal of the week in the final of the 400m freestyle at the European Short Course Swimming Championships in Eindhoven, writes RTÉ Sport’s John Kenny.
Murphy, who finished third in the 800m freestyle on Friday, was joined in the final by compatriot Melanie Nocher.
The Irish girls lined up alongside each other in the final in lanes two and three. Nocher made a blistering start to lead in the early stages, but Hungary’s Agnes Mutina and Spain’s Melanie Costa fought out the finish as Nocher’s challenge petered out.
Murphy clung on for bronze behind Mutina, who clocked four minutes 01.25 seconds.
The Wexford teenager set a new Irish record with a time of 4:02.86, while Nocher faded in to fifth.
The race was notable for the absence of long-course world champion Federica Pellegrini who failed to finish her heat this morning.
The Italian stopped at the 150m mark and left the water, telling Italian TV channel RAI: ‘I was nervous and suddenly became scared. That's why I stopped.’
Pellegrini has experienced problems in the pool before, pulling up after suffering from panic attacks during races.
Gianfranco Saini, head of the Italy squad, said: ‘It's probably a mental problem. She must have recalled another race.’
Meanwhile, Aisling Cooney went agonisingly close to making the 50m backstroke final. Cooney became the first Irish woman to break 28 seconds when setting a new Irish record of 27.87, but missed out on a final spot by .03secs.
All three swimmers are in action again on Sunday.
