Darragh Greene Gets It Done In Dublin On Day 2 Of Irish C’ships

2019 IRISH OPEN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, March 27th – Sunday, March 31st
• National Aquatic Centre, Dublin, Ireland
• LCM
• Qualification for World Championships, World Jr Championships, World University Games, European Jr Championships, European Youth Olympic Games, Para World Championships
• Swim Ireland Consideration Times for Competitions
• SwimSwam Meet Preview
• Day 1 Recap
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results

24-year-old Darragh Greene was one of our ‘swimmers to watch’ at this year’s Irish Open Championships and the National Centre Dublin swimmer indeed put on a show. After lighting up the pool last night with a 59.98 100m breaststroke time for gold in a new meet record, Greene took things to another level with the 200m breaststroke event on night 2.

Greene established himself as the top seed of the morning with an AM effort of 2:13.32, leading Nicholas Quinn by over a second. However, in the final we saw Greene smash an 11-year-old Irish National Record with his gold medal-garnering time of 2:10.05. That slid under the previous NR of 2:1016 set by Andrew Bree way back at the 2012 Olympic Games.

Greene’s 2:10.05 time qualifies for this year’s World Championships as he checks in with the 12th fastest performance in the world this season.

Post-race, Greene stated, “I would have been happy with a pb, the record is a huge bonus, especially an 11-year-old record. I’m looking forward to seeing what I can do in the summer now.”

Shane Ryan, Ireland’s first-ever World Championships medalist, was also in the pool tonight, contesting the men’s 100m freestyle. Ryan beat out teammates Jordan Sloan and Robbie Powell for gold, clocking 49.28.  That clears the FINA B standard of 50.51, but falls short of the A cut of 48.80.

Sloan took silver in 49.71, with Powell rounding out the top 3 in 50.03. Of note, the top 4 swimmers’ times combine to dip under the 4x100m freestyle relay consideration mark for Gwangju.

National Centre Dublin’s weapon for the women, Niamh Coyne, did more damage tonight, following up on her night 1 victory in the 100m breast. She earned the Irish National title in 2:30.09, although Olympian Hannah Miley got her hand on the wall with the quickest time of 2:29.40.

As a visiting Scottish swimmer, Miley earned a commemorative medal, sharing the poidum with Coyne.

For Coyne, her outing this evening falls just shy of her own personal best of 2:29.38 produced last summer in Dublin.

Additional Winners:

• Miley doubled up on her 200m breast with an appearance in the 400m IM. The veteran took the gold in 4:47.63, while Templeogue’s Ellen Walshe claimed the national title in 4:51.04.
• The women’s 800m free saw Edel Daly nail a national title-winning mark of 9:15.03.
• Former national record holder Danielle Hill got the job done in the women’s 50m free, registering a winning time of 25.77.
• Conor Ferguson came away with gold in the men’s 50m back, earning a winning time of 25.32, just .15 shy of the FINA A QT.

Consideration Times Achieved 
(Team Selections will be made at a later date)

LEN European Junior Swimming Championships, Kazan, Russia, 3^rd – 7^th July
Eoin Corby (100m Breaststroke), Uiseann Cooke (100m Breaststroke), Amelia Kane (400m IM)

FINA World Swimming Championships (50m), Gwangju, Korea, 22^nd – 28^th July
Darragh Greene (100m Breaststroke, 200m Breaststroke)

IOC European Youth Olympic Festival, Baku, Azerbaijan, 22^nd – 28^th July
Molly Mayne (100m Breaststroke, 200m Breaststroke)

IPC World Para Swimming Championships, TBC, 29^th July – 3^rd August
Sean O’Riordan (400m Freestyle), Patrick Flanagan (400m Freestyle), Barry McClements (400m Freestyle) Ailbhe Kelly (400m Freestyle) Nicole Turner (100m Breaststroke), Ellen Keane (100m Breaststroke)

FINA World Junior Championships, Budapest, Hungary, 20^th – 25^th August
Eoin Corby (100m Breaststroke), Amelia Kane (400m IM)