Ellen Keane – Women’s 200m IM – SM9 Final

Keane qualified for this medal race after a good swim this morning in the heats. She finished in a clear second place with a time of 2:40.99.

She has said that she is very relaxed going into these races knowing it is not her strongest event.

Although she will not be nervous, this is her last race in what has been a historic Paralympics for the 26-year-old. The gold medal she claimed in the breaststroke a few days ago could give her confidence to push on for a medal again.

The Dublin woman lined out in lane one and starting with the Butterfly she found herself in fourth at the turn. Backstroke is her weakest swim and she dropped off the top three a bit. Next was her favorite the breaststroke and she closed the gap on the medal places.

She finished with the freestyle but it was not enough as she hit the wall at 2:38.64, tiring and dropping into fifth.

The gold went to Australia’s Sophie Pascoe with Hungary’s Zsofia Konkoly taking silver and Spain’s Nuria Marques Soto getting bronze.

Keane can be proud of her performance after coming into the final ranked in seventh to only finish seconds off a medal.

#ParaSwimming S9 100m Breaststroke Champion, Ellen Keane finishes joint 5th in the SM9 200 IM with a time of 2:38.64, setting a new PB

Brilliant performance by Ellen to wrap up her #Tokyo2020 campaign. #TeamIreland | #TheNextLevel pic.twitter.com/VYnTkDjvD5

— Paralympics Ireland (@ParalympicsIRE) September 1, 2021

Róisín Ní Ríaín – Women’s 100m Breaststroke – SB13 Final

This has been a monumental debut Paralympics for Róisín Ní Ríaín as she has taken part in six events.

In the heat for this event, she broke yet another personal best finishing in a time of 1:20.81. She is now ranked in fifth place overall going into the final and hoping to push for her first-ever Paralympic medal.

She started the race in lane two and sprung from the block. The Limerick woman could not find her best form by the turn and found herself in eighth. She pushed on in the last 50m and finished the race in seventh place in a time of 1:20.34, another personal best.

The gold medal went to Germany’s Elena Krawzow, Team GB’s Rebecca Redfern received the silver, and USA’s Colleen Young got the bronze.

Ní Ríaín can still be proud as this was her sixth event, fourth and last final for the 16-year-old at her first Paralympic Games. She will be treated as a hero when she returns home to Limerick in the next few days.

#ParaSwimming Róisín Ní Riain finishes off #Tokyo2020 with ANOTHER PB – what a first Paralympic Games it’s been for the 16 year old #TeamIreland | #TheNextLevel | #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/znneTfi5QJ

— Paralympics Ireland (@ParalympicsIRE) September 1, 2021

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Haughey, the grandniece of former Irish Taoiseach Charles Haughey, broke the Asian 200m Freestyle record with a time of 1:53.92.

Haughey’s mother is from Hong Kong and her father is Irish and the swimmer was born in and has grown up in the former British colony.

The swimmer’s previous best time was 1:54.89, which she had set in April of this year.

The 23-year-old was already the first swimmer from Hong Kong to reach an Olympic final and solidified her mane in Olympics history with her performance.

The two-time Olympian dominated proceedings for much of the race, leading the way up until the final 50m when Australian Ariarne Titmus edged her out to take gold in the event.

Ariarne Titmus won gold in the women’s 200-meter freestyle, setting a new Olympic record.

Siobhan Bernadette Haughey won silver after becoming the first swimmer from Hong Kong to make it to an Olympic final.https://t.co/8MovOvdunU pic.twitter.com/lqMf5WHOp2

— NYT Graphics (@nytgraphics) July 28, 2021

The silver medal makes the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Hong Kong’s most successful Olympics ever.

Fencer Edgar Cheung Ka-Long had previously won gold for the Olympic team on Tuesday – Hong Kong’s first gold since Atlanta 1996.

“My achievement, coupled with Cheung Ka-Long in fencing, can inspire other Hong Kong athletes who are here in Tokyo, and ‘add oil’ to them,” she said after her race.

The phrase is a motivational one that means to keep drawing strength.

She has shown massive improvement since her Olympic debut in Rio where she made the semis of the event and swam a time of 1:57.56.

Haughey had stated before she made her Olympic debut in 2016 that she had been approached to represent Ireland but “chose to represent Hong Kong because I was born there, raised there, and feel connected and proud to represent Hong Kong”.

Haughey raced in the Women’s 100m Freestyle Heats later on in the same day, coming second overall across all heats, behind only new Olympic record holder Emma McKeon by half a second.

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Mona McSharry became the first Irish swimmer to take part in an Olympic final since Michelle Smith in 1996.

McSharry came eighth in the final but Quinn was full of praise for the 20-year-old, who made her dreams come true.

“All these experiences are going to stand to Mona as she moves forward in her career because let’s be clear, this is only a step in Mona’s journey,” Quinn said on his daily review show.

The Irish senior record holder can add Olympic finalist to an already-impressive resumé that includes a World Championship in the 100m Breastroke and high finishes at senior European Championships.

At only 20 years of age, McSharry has her whole career ahead of her and can become an even better swimmer over time.

McSharry swam the final in 1:06.9 and Quinn feels there are a lot of positives she can take from her performance.

“Her dive was probably the best dive she’s done across the three rounds. She turned a 50 in 31.6, which was the same time she turned at the 50 in the semi-final.”

However, he feels that the University of Tennessee student used up the majority of her energy too early and it’s what cost her on the latter 50m.

McSharry’s run to becoming only the second Irish person to swim in an Olympic final has caught the eye of the Irish public.

The Sligo native was the third-youngest woman in the final and, at her age, could have several more Olympic appearances on the cards in the future, form permitting.

Olympian Quinn described the Olympic finalist as an inspiration for a generation.

“Mona won’t realise the impact she has had on others yet, but she will in years to come.”

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