MOLLY MAYNE DOUBLED her medal tally today when she won a bronze medal in the Girl’s 100m Breaststroke at the Summer European Youth Olympic Festival in Baku.
This adds to the bronze she won in the Girl’s 200m Breaststroke on Wednesday, and brings the overall Irish medal total to four – the other two being the double gold won on the track by Rhasidat Adeleke.
Mayne qualified for the Final as the fourth-fastest swimmer in the semi-finals, but went into third place from the start of the final and held that position to the end, finishing with a personal best time of 1.09.59.
“It was really good”, beamed Mayne afterward.
“I wasn’t really expecting a 1.09, I was expecting a 1.10.0 or 1.09 (high). It was just amazing. I felt really fresh in the water I think, and I just felt so good.
“In warm-up I felt a lot fresher because obviously I only raced one race today, whereas yesterday I had two. But I just felt way more powerful in my stroke and my stroke rates were high. I spent a little more time focusing on my stroke rate and keeping it high.”
Elsewhere in the Boy’s Medley Relay on the track, Team Ireland stormed home with a win in their heat and move into the tomorrow’s final as the second-fastest qualifier with a time of 1.56.69.
The quartet of Israel Olatunde (100m), Charles Okafor (200m), Diarmuid O’Connor (300m) and Robert McDonnell (400m) took the lead early, with McDonnell crossing the line ahead of a fast closing Hungary in the closing metres.
In the 3000m, Michael Morgan set a new PB finishing with a time of 8.48.41 while Emily MacHugh finished 12th in the Girl’s 5km Race Walk, in a time of 26.26.05.
Athletics is the only sport featuring on tomorrow’s schedule, with John Fanning racing in the 2000m Steeplechase and Ava O’Connor in the 1500m.
Aoife O’Sullivan jumps in the High Jump Finals, in which she qualified earlier this week clearing 1.75m.
