ZHOU LITTLE BEAUTY!
Pointing the way: Shane Ryan celebrates after he claimed Ireland’s first ever World Senior swimming medal with bronze in the final of the men’s 50-metre backstroke at the Hang Zhou Olympic & International Expo Center in China. Ryan swam 22.76, breaking the Irish record for the third time in two days .
SHANE RYAN won Ireland’s first ever world championship swimming medal yesterday, claiming bronze in the 50m backstroke final at the World Short Course Swimming Championships in Hangzhou, China. Ryan had progressed through the rounds by setting three new Irish records — 23.03 in the heats, 22.96 in Thursday’s semi-final and 22.76 for the bronze medal. The medal-winning time moves the 24-year-old into the top 10 of all-time in the event. He is ranked ninth. Russia’s Evengy Rylov took the gold medal in the event in 22.58, USA’s Ryan Murphy claimed silver in 22.63 and the battle for third left just three one-hundredths of a second between third and fifth, Ryan claiming the medal ahead of Russia’s Kliment Kolesnikov (22.77) and Brazil’s Guilherme Guido (22.79). He started the race in lane three and just held off Kolesnikov out in lane seven, touching home ahead of the 18-year-old to take his second international senior bronze medal since declaring for Ireland. The medal is Ryan’s third major podium finish adding to World University Games gold in 2017 and European Championship bronze earlier this year. ‘I’m really happy with how tonight went,’ he said afterwards. ‘I know with each race I wanted to get a little bit faster and just try to get my hand on the wall. ‘Although it can be a tactical race to a certain extent, it’s all about the speed and getting the perfect finish to hit the wall. It’s been difficult for backstrokers this week as the venue has a domed roof and it can be difficult to pick a spot on the ceiling, so some competitors have been hitting the lane ropes as a result. ‘But look, the whole (Irish) squad have been swimming well here and it’s great to be part of the team that are breaking records and to win a medal is a real bonus. ‘It’s a great honour, it really is,’ he continued. ‘Every stroke I was racing I was thinking, “I’ve got to get my hand to the wall, not only for me but for Ireland, my coaches, my team-mates, it’s not just for me it’s for everyone else”. Irish swimming is in the spotlight, the future is looking good for us.’ Ryan returns to the pool today for the 100m freestyle heats and will also be joined by Conor Ferguson, Darragh Greene and Brendan Hyland for the men’s 4x50m medley relay. Greene also competes in the 50m breaststroke heats. With all four swimmers in recordbreaking form this week, Irish records in all three events will certainly be under threat. Earlier, 17-year-old Niamh Coyne swam a personal best 1:07.19 in the 100m breaststroke. Swimming in her first senior international event, Coyne has impressed this week with best times in both the 50m and 100m breaststroke so far.