Irish record holder Doyle unable to make final

Fiona Doyle was unable to build on the national record she set this morning, when taking to the pool for the 50m Breaststroke semi-final at the World Swimming Championships in Barcelona this afternoon.

Doyle, who swam in the 100m Breaststroke semi-final earlier in the week finishing 11th, was 14th overall today after coming home seventh in the second semi-final from lane two.

Registering a time of 31.52, she was someway off the benchmark she set earlier today (30.93).

Ranked 10th going into the event, she took almost half a second off her previous best time of 31.35 to rank ninth going into the semi-final.

Doyle now holds Irish records in the 50m, 100m and 200m Breaststroke.

Delighted with her performance in the heats, 21-year-old earlier said: “I’m really, really happy. I’m delighted to be under 31 seconds and to set a new Irish record was fantastic. I’m very excited for the semi-final let’s see what happens and hopefully I can make the final.”

Nicholas Quinn was the only Irish swimmer in finals action at the US Open in California yesterday. Quinn, swimming in the 100m Breaststroke B Final, bettered his time from the morning heats to finish 3rd in the final and 11th overall in a time of 1:02.80.