Shane Ryan claimed Ireland’s second ever gold in the pool at the World University Games with a blistering display in the 50m backstroke in Taipei.
Just 24 hours after becoming the first Irish swimmer to go under 25 seconds in the event, Ryan broke the Irish record for the second time in as many days with a winning time of 24.72 seconds.
Ryan finished with one hundredth of a second to spare over American Justin Ress in second place.
The Pennsylvania State University student, who qualifies for Ireland through his father Thomas, more than made up for the disappointment of missing out on a medal in the 100m final on Monday with a dominant performance.
"All I wanted to do was win. I knew it was going to be tough but I believed I could do it. I’m honoured to be bringing the Gold medal home to Ireland," he said.
Ryan's medal is Ireland’s first gold in the pool at World University Games since Gary O’Toole won the 200m Breaststroke in 1991.
Fiona Doyle (2013,2015) and Michael Williamson (2003) are Ireland’s only other swimming medalists at the event.
There was other Irish involvement in the Games today.
Jordan Sloan swam 50.02 seconds in the 100m Freestyle heats where he progressed to the semi-final in 15th place. Sloan bettered his time to 49.93 seconds in the semi-final for 14th place overall.
Curtis Coulter clocked 50.83 seconds in the 100m Freestyle while Jack Ffrench concluded his Games with a score of 305.35 points on the 3M Springboard.
