LAST UPDATE | 23 Jul 2019
Updated 14.35
IRISH RECORDS IN both the men’s 50m breaststroke and 200m butterfly tumbled further in South Korea today as Darragh Greene and Brendan Hyland competed in the semi-finals of the World Championship.
Neither man was able to force their way into the last eight of their respective event, but they will walk away proud of the PBs set along the way.
Greene bowed out of the 5om breaststroke event at the semi-final stage after finishing 10th overall with a time of 27.14.
That mark was the Longford man’s second-fastest swim, and would have been enough for a new national record were it not for the 26.94 he posted to finish fourth in the heat earlier today.
On Sunday, Greene set a new national record in the 100m breaststroke so all three men’s breaststroke national records currently belong to him.
Hyland went into the 200m butterfly semi-final chasing an Olympic qualifying time having also set an Irish record to qualify from the heats in 1:57.09.
He duly built on that form in the semi-final as he touched home in 11th place. However, the new national best of 1:56.55 was a whisker short of the Olympic mark of 1:56.48.
“I’m disappointed obviously,” Hyland said in Gwangju, “it would have been unbelievable just to wrap it up.
It’s encouraging, it’s a big swim, I mean it’s the best swim of my life but it’s .07 I could have done with, it’s hard.”
Hyland was scheduled to take part in tomorrow’s 4x100m mixed medley, but will sit out after today’s exertions to focus on Friday’s 4x200m freestyle relay.
Greene will also be back racing on Friday for the heats of the 200m breaststroke.
Tomorrow will see Curtis Coulter get his first taste of the World Championship in the 100m freestyle heats (from 2am). Also debuting is Conor Ferguson as he joins Ellen Walshe, Niamh Coyne and Robbie Powell on the blocks for the 4x100m mixed medley.
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