Swimming: Wexford teenager Gráinne Murphy qualified for next summer's London Olympics after recording a time of 8.31.14 in the 800 metres freestyle at the Dutch Open Championship in Eindhoven today.
The 18-year-old’s time was over two seconds inside the A standard and was also good enough to see her win the bronze medal at the event, which was won by Mireia Belmonte Garcia from Spain in a time of 8:22.78. Second place went to Danish swimmer Lotte Friis (8:24.31).
Speaking from the event, Murphy’s coach Ronald Claes was full of praise for the swimmer.
“This is a great early season swim for Gráinne. It is her first competitive outing since the disappointment of the World Championships last summer and it is an added bonus to have achieved the A standard at this stage.”
There were a number of other notable performances by Irish swimmers today, with Aisling Cooney qualifying for the final of the 50m backstroke following a heat swim of 30.06. In the final, swimming in lane eight, she produced a solid performance to finish in seventh place, in a time of 29.84.
Shani Stallard qualified for the final of the 200m breaststroke after a heat swim of 2.32.44before finishing eighth in the final in a time of 2.31.20, just outside the Irish senior record.
The women’s 200m freestyle included seven Irish athletes, all aiming not just for the A standard but also a possible place on the Olympic relay team. Best of the Irish was Melanie Nocher, who qualified for the B final, where she finished in a time of 2.00.49. The A standard is 1:58.33 for the event.
Portmarnock swimmer Karl Burdis had a strong performance in the 50m backstroke heats, finishing with a place in the B final in a time of 26.10.
He went on to finish second in a time of 26.06. He competes in the 100m backstroke tomorrow, the final day of competition, where the A standard he will be chasing stands at 54.40.