Banks stunned as swimmers can’t take the heats

A miserable morning in the Olympic Aquatic centre left two young Irish swimmers stunned and national performance director Peter Banks struggling for answers.

Though Melanie Nocher expressed satisfaction after finishing third in a 100m backstroke heat (1:02.44), teenage tyros Grainne Murphy and Sycerika McMahon both had nightmare Olympic debuts when trailing the fields in their events and declined to speak to reporters.

Banks admitted the results were well below expectations. He said: “My job as performance director is to take what we learned from this and from the preparation, and make sure that we’re better when we get there the next time. We set a standard and felt that top-16 was where we’d like to see our athletes. I still believe we have athletes who could be at that level. Have they performed to that level today? No, they haven’t, and I think you could see the disappointment. They’re disappointed they didn’t do the swims the way they wanted to. We’ve performed at the European levels and done well but the next step up is a tough step.

“And we haven’t made that step yet.”

There were high hopes for Murphy in particular at the Games after her silver medal in the 1500m freestyle at the 2010 European Championships and an impressive performance in Holland that secured her place in the 800m freestyle in London. The Wexford girl came home in 4:19.07, almost 10 seconds outside her personal best for the 400m freestyle.

But Banks revealed that Murphy suffered a major setback in her preparations earlier this year. “She had a virus around March time and had to back off the intensity of training because it was the kind of virus that made her tired. I don’t think she wasn’t fit, I just think she wasn’t race-fit.”

McMahon was last in her 100m breaststroke heat in 1:08.80 — and was 26th overall. She also has a remarkable junior and senior pedigree but failed to carry that into these Games.

Banks said: “Last year she was at the European juniors and won medals. This year she went to the European seniors and won a medal. I think she has shown a progression and this is the next step up. It’s a bigger step, and I think she wants it and she’s competitive and what hurt her most is that she knows she can do it.”

The only Irish swimmer left smiling after the weekend was Holywood’s Nocher.

“I am happy, it’s only half a second off my personal best,” she said. “You’ve got to be positive about these things.”

Murphy (200m freestyle) and McMahon (200m individual medley) are both due to compete again this morning.

Nocher competes on Thursday in her main event, the 200m backstroke. Dublin’s Barry Murphy is also set to return to the pool on the same day in the 50m freestyle.