The European Youth Olympic Festival got underway for the Irish swimmers yesterday in Maribor, Slovenia, there was plenty of personal bests achieved on the opening day of action for #TeamIreland swimmers with Ava Jones, Denis O’Brien, Brydan Byrne and Niamh Connery all featuring throughout the heats.
The below report was provided by the Olympic Federation of Ireland:
In the first morning of action for the swimmers, personal records were not enough to secure places in the final for the four competing athletes.
Dubliner, Ava Jones finished the 100m Freestyle with a personal best time of 59.61. Her 30th position overall was not enough to progress to the semi-finals. Speaking after her race, she said,
“The pressure was on, a new pool and the first race, the nerves, but it was totally fine when I was in the water. It’s the first race, I’m settled into it now, I think I was good in the first 50, but came back in slower than I needed to in the second one, but I can work on that.”
Limerick’s Denis O’Brien had a strong swim, with his personal record of 4:07.58 not enough to move into the top 8 who contested the final and finishing 15th overall. O’Brien said,
“It wasn’t the best start to the week, but not too bad. It was a very tough race, from the start the man ahead of me was out, and I couldn’t catch him. My arms started to get a bit heavy to the end. I was a bit nervous coming here – the fastest swimmers from all the countries are here, so it’s good to have the first one down now.”
Brydan Byrne also finished with a personal best time in the 100m Backstroke, finishing with a time of 59.12 to finish 30th overall.
“Getting a PB is always really nice, it feels amazing. I just did what I normally do at all the stages, so I’m really happy. I could see people next to me, and was trying to edge ahead. I knew we had similar PBs, so if you’re ahead you’re probably going well. I was quite controlled.”
From Galway, Niamh Connery had a strong swim in her opening event, the Individual Medley, and finished with a time of 5:13.1, just outside her PB. With tomorrow’s 200m Breaststroke being her favoured event, Connery was glad to get the event underway,
“I was trying to work on my fly, and keeping the legs under the water. I think it was a nice one to open the competition with, it was an ice-breaker. I’m more of a breaststroker, so hopefully tomorrow and my other events will go better. It’s been really fun here, I want to keep training and keep going, and try to get as far as I can.
Connery was also inspired by the results coming in from the senior team of swimmers who are competing for Olympic qualifying times in Japan at the world championships,
“The girls in Japan, I’ve seen all the results, it’s just amazing, because that’s where I want to be in the next couple of years.”
Results
Ava Jones, Girls 100m Freestyle, Heat – 59.61 (PB) not qualified for semis
Denis O’Brien, Boys 400m Freestyle, Heat – 4:07.58 (PB) not qualified for final
Brydan Byrne, Boys 100m Backstroke, Heat – 59.12 (PB) Reserve 1 for semis
Niamh Connery, Girls 400m IM, Heat – 5:13.1 not qualified for final
Schedule – Wednesday, 25 July
Gene Smyth, Boys 100 Freestyle Heat
Sean Donnellan, Boys 200 Butterfly Heat
Ava Jones and Niamh Connery, Girls 200 Breaststroke
