Updated 6.35pm
SYCERIKA MCMAHON has claimed a bronze medal at the European Short Course Championships today.
McMahon set three Irish records to finish third in the 50m breaststroke final in Chartres, France with a time of 30.34 – behind Czech Republic’s Petra Chocova (30.02) and Denmark’s Rikke Pederson (30.25).
She had taken more than three-tenths of a second off her own Irish senior record in the semi-finals, qualifying third overall in a time of 30.56.
Earlier today the Portaferry teenager was one of the standout swimmers in the morning’s heats when she set a new national best half a second quicker than Fiona Doyle’s previous record.
McMahon, 17, now has a chance to add short course honours to the 50m breaststroke silver she won at the European Long Course Championships in Debrecen, Hungary earlier this year.
She also competes in the final of the women’s 4x50m freestyle this evening. The Irish quartet of McMahon, Jane Roberts, Shani Stallard and Clodagh Flood qualified in eighth place in a time of 1:47.75.
Olympian Barry Murphy failed to progress in both the 50m freestyle and the 100m breaststroke, but Cian Duffy (200m individual medley), Brendan Hyland (100m butterfly) and the men’s 4x50m medley team all set new Irish junior records on day one.
Full Irish Results: Day 1 heats
- Barry Murphy 50m Free 22.35 (29th), 100m Breast 1:00.36 (22nd)
- Sycerika McMahon 50m Breast 30.34* (3rd), 200m IM 2:14.58 (21st)
- Shani Stallard 50m Breast 32.85 (26th)
- Cian Duffy 200m IM 2:04.01** (32nd)
- Jane Roberts 100m Back 1:02.19 (35th), 100m Free 58.54 (40th)
- Brendan Hyland 100m Fly 54.73**(33rd)
- David O’Sullivan 100m Fly 56.59 (36th)
- Clodagh Flood 200m Fly 2:19.38 (14th)
- Sarah Kelly 200m Fly 2:16.82 (12th)
- Brendan Gibbons 400m Free 3:57.84 (35th)
- Men 4x50m MTR 1:47.02** (11th) — C Duffy, B Hyland, D O’Sullivan, B Gibbons
- Women 4x50m FTR 1:47.75 (8th) — S McMahon, J Roberts, S Stallard, C Flood
* New Irish senior record ** New Irish junior record
