Ireland doubled their medal tally at the World Para Swimming European Championships in Turkey on Thursday afternoon when Róisín Ní Riain took gold by successfully defending her 100m backstroke title, while Dearbhaile Brady took silver in the 50m butterfly final.
Earlier in the week, Ní Riain and Brady won silver in the 100m freestyle and 200m individual medley, respectively, but this time around Ní Riain produced a dominant display, the Limerick woman finishing with close to three seconds to spare over Italian runner-up Carlotta Gilli in a personal best time. Britain’s Ursula Carroll took bronze.
Ní Riain had carried the tag of fastest qualifier in to the final after her performance in the morning’s heats, but she carried it lightly, leading from the off and never relinquishing her advantage.
Considering she has endured her fair share of injury woes the past year, Ní Riain’s form in Turkey has been remarkable. “My goal was simply to make it to this competition,” she said. “A few weeks ago, I didn’t think I would be here, so for me the goal was to get here – and anything that came after that was a bonus.”
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“It feels pretty good, I’ve been looking forward to this swim all week,” she said after the final. “It’s my main event and my best shot. To be able to come out and do that, I’m not going to lie, I didn’t think I’d go that fast tonight. To be able to get a tiny personal best, I’m so, so happy.”
She has now added a gold and silver to an already bulky collection, which includes two medals from the 2024 Paralympics, and still has the 200m IM and 50m freestyle to come.
Brady, meanwhile, came within .33 of a second of gold in her final, Italy’s Giulia Terzi just about holding her off. The Derry teenager led from the start and was still in front at the halfway mark, but Terzi surged in the closing metres to pip Brady to gold.
Síomha Nic Brádaigh finished sixth in the 100m backstroke final, while Dylan Prenderville, making his debut on this stage, found the going too tough in the 50m butterfly, finishing eighth and last.
Six Irish swimmers will be in action on Friday, in what will be the penultimate day of the championships.
