Murphy and Nocher bid to lift Irish spirits

Irish swimming will hope for a change of fortune in the Aquatic centre this morning when Barry Murphy and Melanie Nocher take to the water at the London Olympics.

The departure of Gráinne Murphy through illness coupled with disappointing performances on the opening weekend left high performance director Peter Banks admitting he has work to do to bring the sport “to the next level”.

Barry Murphy swims the 50m freestyle having finished 29th in the 100m breaststroke on Saturday morning in a season best 1:01.57. The Dubliner’s objective must be to better the 22.14 he set in 2009.