Irish records tumble in Beijing

ON A day that will be remembered at the Paralympic Games for the bronze medal- winning performance of Gabriel Shelly in the individual Boccia competition, Ireland’s other paralympians were not to be outdone, setting new Irish records in the velodrome, and the Water Cube.

At last night’s session in front of a capacity crowd, 13-year-old Dubliner Ellen Keane displayed considerable composure at her first Paralympics in the final of the women’s 100m Breaststroke (SB8 Class). Keane touched the wall in sixth position overall with a time of 1:29.72 while another debutant, Tyrone’s Johnny Cummings, saved his best ever performance for last night’s final of the S6 100m backstroke, setting an Irish record time of 1.29.26 to finish eighth overall.

Dubliner Cathal Miller was back in the velodrome competing in the Men’s 1km Time Trial (LC1) class, where he excelled to set a new Irish record of 1:11.824, shaving over one second off his previous mark to place seventh overall. This ends Miller’s tremendous track campaign, as he now turns his attention to Thursday’s road events.