Róisín Ní Riain and Dearbhaile Brady secured Ireland's first medals of the 2026 World Para Swimming European Championships, with both swimmers claiming silver on a brilliant night for Ireland in Kocaeli, Turkey.
Ní Riain was back in the water for the 100m freestyle (S13), an event that is not included in her classification at the Paralympic Games. The National Centre (Limerick) swimmer headed into the final as the fourth fastest qualifier after a solid morning swim of 1:01.85, just outside her personal best of 1:01.58.
After the opening 50 metres, Ní Riain sat in fourth position at the turn and it was from there, the 22-year-old increased her stroke rate and stormed home to touch the wall in a new lifetime best of 1:00.52, securing the European silver medal. Ní Riain finished just 0.31 seconds behind Italy’s Carlotta Gilli, who claimed gold in 1:00.21.
"I’m really, really happy with that swim," she said. "I knew I was capable of a swim like that, and I also knew I was capable of a time like that for a while now.
"This is my first time racing the 100m Freestyle at a major international championship, so I didn’t really know what to expect. It’s my first tapered 100m Freestyle and everything like that, so I knew that if I executed it correctly, there was a good swim in me, so I’m so happy.
Brady announced her arrival on the European stage in stunning fashion, claiming silver in the 200m individual medley (SM6) in a time of 3:20.78.
The National Centre (Dublin) swimmer charged through the opening 50 metres to touch the wall first. At the turn, Brady slipped back to second place but held the position for the remainder of the race to secure silver, finishing more than five seconds clear of the bronze medallist.
"I feel quite good," said Brady. "It was the first event, so I just wanted to start off by getting into racing. I was quite nervous, so I’m happy with how it went.
"I think it’s about taking it a day at a time. Competition started two days ago and I was training throughout, so it’s nice to be racing. It’s been a big change. I think this year was just about getting more training and consistency. It’s nice to see that there’s now a positive side coming out of it all. I’m really happy with how it went today."
Deaten Registe narrowly missed out on a podium place in the 100m breaststroke (SB14), following a time of 1:08.36 to finish fourth. The Lisburn swimmer finished just 0.29 seconds behind Ukraine’s Vasyl Krainyk, who claimed the bronze medal.
Emersyn Scully clocked her fourth consecutive personal best as she featured in her second European final. The New Ross swimmer posted a time of 1:24.90 in the 100m breaststroke (SB14) final to lower her best once again, shaving almost a full second off her heat swim of 1:25.89.
Both Ní Riain and Brady will join Síomha Nic Brádaigh and Dylan Prenderville on day four of competition.
