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Nocher ends long medal wait with backstroke bronze

SWIMMING: IRELANDS MELANIE Nocher took bronze in the final of the women’s 200m Backstroke at the European Short Course swimming…

JOHN KENNY
Mon Dec 12 2011 - 00:00

SWIMMING:IRELANDS MELANIE Nocher took bronze in the final of the women's 200m Backstroke at the European Short Course swimming championships at Szczecin in Poland – her first major international success.

In taking third, the 23-year-old fully justified her decision to pull out of Saturday’s final of the women’s 400m Freestyle final to concentrate on her main event yesterday and she showed her intentions by winning her morning heat and breaking her own Irish record.

The time was more than good enough to make the final, qualifying her second overall to the Ukraine’s Daryna Zevina.

Nocher was a little behind on the opening 50 metres of the evening race, rising first of the 10 swimmers and turning sixth after the first leg.

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However Nocher, who also broke the Irish record for the 100m Backstroke during the week, showed that she still had strength in hand and moved into third place by half distance behind Zevina and Spain’s Duane Da Rocha Marce.

The Ukrainian pulled away over the second half of the race to claim the gold medal in a new championship record time of 2.02.24, with Da Rocha Marce holding off a fast finishing Nocher to take the silver medal. Nocher’s bronze medal time of 2.04.29 broke the Irish record again.

“Ten years as a competitive swimmer and I get my first major medal. I’m absolutely on top of the world” said Nocher. “I’ve been looking forward to the 200 all week as this was the big one for me. I came back (over the second half), stronger than I have before and I took over a second and a half off my personal best in just two swims.”

“I didn’t really have any thoughts about the gold and silver as I put everything I had into that final, I have absolutely no regrets about how I swam in the race. I’m delighted with the bronze.”

Earlier in the day Gráinne Murphy missed out on a place in the 400m Individual Medley final when she was one second shy of a place in the top 10 qualifiers.

The 18-year-old, who is one of two Irish swimmers to have dipped below the Olympic qualifying A standard, finished eighth in the final of the women’s 400m freestyle on Saturday, with gold going to Spain’s Mireia Belmonte Garcia (3.56.39).