Grainne Murphy dominates 400m freestyle events - 2011 Irish Long Course Championships
Grainne Murphy of LIMK defeats Sycerika McMahon in the 400m freestyle event at the 2011 Irish Long Course Championships on April 30 at the National Aquatic Centre.
McMahon, who has earned four gold medals at the championship, failed to overcome Murphy’s 4:21.52 minutes effort in the preliminary rounds. McMahon qualified as the second fastest swimmer, clocking a time of 4:24.68 minutes and was followed by UCD’s Niamh
O’ Sullivan, who touched the wall for the third fastest qualification in 4:26.75 minutes.
Murphy dominated the event from beginning, as she gained a slight lead after the initial 10 metres of the race. Her fast stroke coupled with an aggressive swimming style enabled her to extend the lead throughout the event. She was joined by McMahon in the
second lap, but the 18-year-old cruised her way and finished her swim first.
McMahon managed to do the same to her closest rival, Sullivan, who finished her swim in 4:26.75 minutes. Sullivan was followed by TROJ-IRL’s Nuala Murphy and LISB’s Bethany Carson, who qualified as the fourth and fifth fastest swimmers in 4:27.16 and 4:33.47
minutes.
Later, McMahon demonstrated an astounding swim of 1:03.68 minutes in the 100m freestyle. McMahon’s aggressive swim in the 100m event placed her almost one second ahead of her closest swimmer, Shauna Smith. She touched the wall for the second fastest qualification,
clocking a time of 1:04.33 minutes and was followed by LIMK’s Grainne Murphy, who qualified as the third fastest swimmer into the semi-final in a time of 1:05.14 minutes.
Lorna Cummins of SWSC and Shauna O’ Brien of WAT followed Murphy on the finishing wall as the fourth and fifth fastest swimmers, clocking a time of 1:05.67 and 1:06.03 minutes.
COM’s Sarah Kelly and TALL’s Clodagh Flood followed them into the semi-finals as the seventh and eighth fastest swimmers, clocking a time of 1:06.96 and 1:07.08 minutes respectively.
The finals and semi-finals of the same events will be conducted in the evening session, where the swimmers clocking a time under FINA time qualification standard will be ensured their places for 2011 Shanghai World Championships.
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