Mona McSharry and Alex Murphy both failed to advance to their respective 50m breaststroke finals at the 2017 European Short Course Swimming Championships in Copenhagen on a day that saw an Irish senior record broken.
Both McSharry and Murphy sealed their places in the semi-finals earlier in day, but had to settle for 12th and 11th-place finishes respectively.
After a tremendous final year at junior level, McSharry stepped up to senior level by making her first senior international semi-final.
The European Junior champion in the event clocked 30.80 earlier today to progress, and bettered her time to 30.39 to finish seventh in the race and 12th overall.
Mona McSharry goes 30.39 for 7th in SF 2 if the 50m Breaststroke & was 12th overall, a fantastic senior Semi-final debut! pic.twitter.com/r6uNr3K5PI
— Swim Ireland (@swimireland) December 13, 2017
McSharry will also go in the 100m and 200m breaststroke, the individual medley and relay.
Murphy, a bronze medallist in the 2015 edition of the event, posted a time of 26.52 in his semi-final today, an improvement of his heat time, but had to settle for sixth place in the semi-final and 11th overall.
Earlier today Jordan Sloan set a new Irish senior record in the 400m freestyle.
He touched 10th overall with an impressive time of 3:43.21, breaking his own record set at the World SC Swimming Championships in 2016. The swim will give the 24-year-old great confidence going into tomorrow’s 200m freestyle, his main event.
Brendan Hyland knocked almost a second off his best time in the heats of the 100m Butterfly. He clocked 52.20 to finish second in his heat while Conor Brines touched in 52.97.
In the 50m Breaststroke Darragh Greene finished in a best time of 27.65 with Nicholas Quinn home in 28.44.
Danielle Hill was to finish in 1:02.46 in the 100m Backstroke while Conor Ferguson completed the first morning session for Ireland with a top-twenty position in the 200m Backstroke in 1:55.84.
Day 1 Heat Results
100m Butterfly Conor Brines H 52.97; Brendan Hyland H 52.20
50m Breaststroke Mona McSharry H 30.80 (16th)
50m BreaststrokeAlex Murphy H 26.66 (14th); Darragh Greene H 27.65; Nicholas Quinn H 28.44
400m Freestyle Jordan Sloan H 3:43.21 ISR
100m Backstroke Danielle Hill H 1:02.46
200m Backstroke Conor Ferguson H 1:55.84
Day 1 Semi-Finals
50m Breaststroke Alex Murphy, 26.52, 11th overall
50m Breaststroke Mona McSharry 30.39, 12th overall
