Firth scoops Ireland’s first Paralympic gold medal

Dusk was falling on day two of the 2012 Paralympic Games in London last night with Team Ireland still striving for their first medal.

Then Down’s 15-year old Bethany Firth jumped into the Aquatic Centre’s pool and later climbed out a champion after taking the 100m backstroke S14 final. Not that she realised it right away.

“I looked up after 25 [metres] and thought: ‘I really need to pick this up.’ It just took me to the end. I thought I had finished third but then I looked up and saw I came first. The crowd was amazing. I could hear them under the water.”

Firth’s success was heralded by thousands of fans in the state-of-the-art arena and was all a far cry from 1976 when John Twomey, 20, a discus thrower of Ballinhassing, Cork, entered the Games for the first time.

The opening ceremony was held at the Woodbine Horse Racing Track in Toronto, there was no athletes’ village, and most of the events were held in the spartan Centennial Park Stadium.

Now, 36 years later, Twomey is about to helm a three-man keelboat for the first of 11 races. It will be his tenth consecutive appearance at the Games.

The transition from athlete — he won a bronze in 1984 and gold four years later — to sailor has been easier.

Twomey had been sailing for years out of Kinsale Yacht Club when he got the call to see if he would be interested in competing in the Paralympic World Championships.

“I’ve been blessed to have had two careers. I ended up in a wheelchair because I crashed my bike as a racing cyclist so I’ve had a long sporting career. The accident put an end to my cycling career and gave a start to my athletics and Paralympic careers.”

Meanwhile, Irish sprinter Jason Smyth last night broke his own world record in qualifying for the 100m T13 event.

The visually impaired 25-year-old is favourite to retain the title he won in Beijing four years ago.

Smyth was disappointed not to qualify for last month’s Olympics, missing the 100m A standard by 0.04 seconds.