Ellen Keane saved the best for last as she put in a dominant performance in the 100M Breaststroke SB8 to deliver Ireland’s first gold medal at the World Para Swimming Allianz European Championships.
Keane dominated the race from the moment she surfaced after a perfect dive to lead the field right up until she touched the wall to win by more than five seconds.
Her medal was her second and Ireland’s third of on the back of Nicole Turner’s silver from yesterday at the National Aquatic Centre event.
Keane's emergence onto the podium was greeted with a huge Irish cheer and an already emotional occasion was made all the more special as her gold medal was presented by her long time coach, and Director of High Performance for Paralympics Ireland, Dave Malone.
LISTEN TO THAT ROAR! 🔥She's done it! @keane_ellen wins GOLD🥇for Ireland! #Dublin2018@ParalympicsIRE pic.twitter.com/MfrLQHIDr7
— World Para Swimming (@Para_swimming) August 19, 2018
As for Turner, she was also back in action in the finals this evening. Turner, who competed on all but one of the seven days of Dublin 2018, has the remarkable record of reaching the final in every one of her six events.
The 16-year-old put aside any fatigue to again deliver a strong performance in the Women’s 100M Freestyle final. Her time of 1:18:07 was good enough for fifth position in a race won by Ukranian, Mereshko Yelyzaveta.
Patrick Flanagan brought his competition to a close in the heats of the Men’s 100M Freestyle S6 as he narrowly missed out on a place in the final.
Sean O Riordan also took a major step forward this week as he performed beyond expectations throughout.
His Men’s 50M Freestyle S13 heat saw him produce a time of 28:82 to compete his week.
