Second medal for swimming starlet Murphy

Grainne Murphy has won her second medal in the space of an hour at the European Junior Swimming Championships in Prague, adding a bronze medal in the 1500 metres Freestyle to the gold she won earlier in the 400m Individual Medley.

The New Ross native clocked a time of 16 minutes, 35.93 seconds for bronze, swimming her way to new Irish Junior and Senior records.

Speaking after the race, the 16-year-old said: "Everything went really well. My backstroke and breaststroke felt strong and I just feel that all my training has really paid off now.”

Peter Banks, Swim Ireland’s newly appointed High Performance Director,

commented: "These are outstanding swims for Grainne. This reinforces what Irish swimmers are capable of, given the right opportunities."

Murphy is based at the Swim Ireland Limerick High Performance Centre, where she is coached by Ronald Claes.

Claes was in Prague today to witness Murphy’s performances, and was delighted with his protegé.

"Grainne is the kind of person who lives for this level of racing. She did everything right and everything she had to do, plus there have been no setbacks or injuries in her training and preparations.

"Grainne is someone who can keep her head cool in these high-pressured situations and that is a massive benefit and she showed that twice today.

"Her 400 Individual Medley was amazing and an hour later she went for it again in the 1500m Freestyle, " he said.

A delighted Murphy added: "I had about an hour between races, so I got to swim down and rest up a bit before my 1500m.

"And I didn’t even know that my IM time was a European Junior Championships record until I got to the medal podium!"