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Record Breaker

Ireland's Ferguson narrowly misses out on final place at European swimming championships

The 18-year-old broke his own record to finish 13th overall.

Updated at 18.13

IRELAND’S CONOR FERGUSON narrowly missed out on a place in the final of the 50m Backstroke at the European Short Course Swimming Championships.

The 18-year-old became the first Irishman to break 24 seconds in the event in Copenhagen to book his spot in the semi-final on Sunday, clocking in at 23.97

But despite lowering his record to 23.84, he fell short in his attempt to make the final by just 0.42 seconds.

He finished in sixth place out of eight swimmers in the semi-final, and 13th overall.

Speaking to Swim Ireland after the race, Ferguson said he is building for the future.

“I’m really happy, it’s been great to end the meet off on a high, this week has given me more experience for the future.

“It was a bit of a rocky road at the start of the week, I was quite disappointed, but sometimes you win, sometimes you learn. I just had to change my mindset for the second half of the week and it definitely paid off.”

Elsewhere at the European Championships, Mona McSharry — the newly crowned RTE Sport’s inaugural Young Sportsperson of the Year — ended a tremendous year with a 2:25.66 swim in the 200m Breaststroke on Sunday.

Jordan Sloan clocked 24.48 in the 50m Backstroke and Brendan Hyland 1:57.60 in the 200m Butterfly.

Danielle Hill reaffirmed her place as the fastest ever Irishwoman by lowering her own 50m Freestyle Irish record in this morning’s heats.

She clocked an impressive 25.49 to finish second in her heat, which is .15 of a second off faster than her previous record of 25.64.

Jordan Sloan (Backstroke), Alex Murphy (Breaststroke), Conor Brines (Butterfly) and Calum Bain (Freestyle) combined for the 200m Medley Relay for the final record of the morning.

The team smashed the Irish senior record by over three seconds touching in 1:35.63.

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Mona McSharry breaks Irish record with fifth place finish in European final

Jordan Sloan breaks third Irish record at European swimming championships

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