It was a mixed day for Ireland’s two swimmers in action at the European Championships in London.
Shane Ryan, swimming for Ireland for the first time since his transfer from the USA national squad, finished in eighth and last place in the men’s 100 metres backstroke final.
However, Limerick’s Fiona Doyle made the final of the 100m breaststroke after finishing in eight place overall in the semi-finals.
Doyle finished fourth in her semi-final in 1:07.99, having qualified in 12th from her heats.
She had an anxious wait for the second race to conclude, but her season’s best put her into the final, her second consecutive European decider after reaching the 50m breaststroke final in Berlin two years ago.
“I knew I had more in me after the heat swim, I just needed to shake off all the cobwebs and the worry and once I had the heat swim out of the way I knew exactly what I needed to do," she said.
"The race again still wasn’t perfect but it was miles better than this morning and we know there’s more to improve on so I’m really looking forward to tomorrow."
Ryan, who was the eighth-placed qualifier, turned seventh in the final at the 50m mark, but failed to bring it home over the second 50m, registering a time of 54.49 seconds, his slowest time of the event in London.
The race was won by European record holder Camille Lacourt of France in 53.79.
Ryan couldn’t hide his disappointment afterwards, saying: "I have to take the positives from it and move on. I need to go out faster and not worry about my stroke rate and what the coaches say. I need to swim my race."
Ryan is back in the pool tomorrow in the heats of the 50m backstroke and should advance initially to the semi-finals.
Outside of Ryan and Doyle, it’s a busy day for other Irish swimmers competing in London on Wednesday.
Sycerika McMahon will swim the 200m Individual Medley while Brendan Hyland goes in his top event, the 200m butterfly, and will be confident of at least making the semi-finals.
Rio-bound Nicholas Quinn and Dan Sweeney are in action in the 200m breaststroke, while Danielle Hill competes in the 100m backstroke.
