Murphy laying it on line for tilt at Long Course

Dubliner Barry Murphy could have turned his back on swimming and considered retirement after not being selected by the Olympic Council for the 2008 Games in Beijing while others of lesser credentials got in ahead of him.

But he didn’t want to quit the sport he loved and set out to prove the doubters wrong, putting his heart and soul into training. Last December he earned his reward, a first European medal.

Swimming in the final out in lane eight, on that cold evening in Herning on the Jutland Peninsula in Denmark, Murphy won a bronze medal in the men’s 50m breaststroke at the European Short Course meet. After all the effort, all the strife, all that sacrifice, the 28-year-old had his medal.

It didn’t take long to wear off though. He’s back training at the NAC in Dublin now after many years competing in the college system in the US at both Tennessee and Michigan Universities with very little, if any, financial reward and the bare minimum in funding from the Irish Sports Council.

This morning, Murphy is one of four Irish swimmers in action in the European Long Course (50m) championships. He’ll be in the same heat as fellow Irish men Dan Sweeney and Nicholas Quinn in the men’s 100m breaststroke. While it’s not ideal to have three team-mates in the same heat where timings rather than placing determines a place in the last 16 semi-finals, Murphy admits he is ready.

The 100m breaststroke has become a big focus for him as the International Olympic Council (IOC) have yet to ratify the 50m breaststroke, butterfly or backstroke as part of the Rio 2016 programme.

With that in mind, Murphy says he needs to have full concentration on the 100m breaststroke over the next two years as he prepares for the Brazil Olympics even though it’s believed the IOC will relent and have the 50m in the next games in two years’ time.

“I’ve put in a season’s best [in the 100] at the Irish championships and my time is coming down gradually,” said Murphy.

“The bronze in the short course in Denmark was a huge boost for my motivation and the programme that I train with. The plan is now to get a medal at the Long Course Europeans.”

The heats of the 50 breaststroke are on Friday but Murphy will put that aside for the moment as he concentrates on today’s 100m event.

“I was fortunate enough to qualify for the Europeans at the first opportunity so all the focus in training has been to prepare for this meet in Berlin.

“I have to be on my A game from day one because if I’m a little bit off my game, I’m not going to get out of my heat.”

While being back in Ireland has put a financial strain on him, Murphy believes the High Performance programme at the NAC in Abbotstown has helped focus his mind as he looks towards Rio 2016.

“I have really enjoyed working with the guys in the group at the NAC. They are getting stronger in the gym every day and it’s good to have that camaraderie in the squad.

“Irish swimming is coming on leaps and bounds and to be part of that is really exciting. I like to think that I have helped to contribute to that but at the same time it’s just great to be involved.”

Tallaght’s Brendan Hyland goes in the heats of the men’s 50m butterfly this morning. Ireland’s two female competitors are Fiona Doyle, the world university games silver medallist and Sycerika McMahon who now swims out of Texas A&M in the USA and who won a silver at the last European long course championships in the women’s 50m breaststroke in 2012.