SHANE RYAN HAS booked his place in the 50m backstroke final at the European Championships after a second-place finish in the semi-final on Friday in Glasgow.
However, there was disappointment for Conor Ferguson and Darragh Greene who both missed out on final spots, with Ferguson also swimming in the 50m backstroke while Greene was in the 100m breaststroke event.
Pennsylvania’s Ryan, whose father is from Laois, clocked a time of 24.57 in the semi-final which sees him qualify for the final in fourth place overall.
The Rio 2016 Olympian previously swam a record-breaking time of 24.32 seconds earlier on Friday to qualify for the semis. It was the fastest time in the heats.
Shane Ryan qualifies for the 50m backstroke final in fourth place, Conor Ferguson just misses out. #EuropeanChampionships #RTESport pic.twitter.com/LUhJCio3Mn
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 3, 2018
Antrim’s Conor Ferguson was also in the 50m backstroke after setting a new Irish junior record with a time of 25.08 in his heat, but he narrowly missed out on a place in the final with a fifth-place finish in the other semi-final.
He broke that Irish junior record again in the semi-final in a time of 24.99, but he just fell short on qualifying for the final by 0.03 seconds.
Unlucky for @GreeneDarragh misses the final place in 1:00.44 and will be first reserve for tomorrow’s Final! #Glasgow2018 #teamarenaIRL pic.twitter.com/wSQnpWNSP0
— Swim Ireland (@swimireland) August 3, 2018
Darragh Greene from Longford also missed out on a place in the 100m breaststroke final after a swim-off with with Russia’s Kirill Prigoda.
The pair both clocked a time of 59.92 in the semi-final with Prigoda edging Greene by out by over a second in the swim-off.
Still, Greene set a new Irish record with the 59.92 he achieved in the semi-final and will be first reserve for the final on Saturday.
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