Murphy on course for Olympics

The record-breaking exploits of 20-year-old Dublin student Barry Murphy would seem to have gone unnoticed since this year’s international swim season began.

Murphy’s sights are realistically fixed on competing at the Beijing Olympics.

The CRC club man has been trimming long-standing Irish records at a regular rate, his most recent achievement coming in the high-profile Mare Nostrum international meet in Monaco last week where he smashed the 50-metres record, shifting from 29.1 to 28.8 seconds.

He merited fourth place behind current world number one breast stroker, Mark Warnecke (Germany).

Murphy’s next international outing will be at the European Championships in Budapest at the end of next month and later the World Student Games in Izmir, Turkey, where he will be joined by third level colleagues Susanna Murphy (Trojan), Niamh McDonnell (Cormorant) and Julie Douglas (Bangor). The National Championships are also scheduled for August in Lisburn.