Ellen Keane – Women’s 200m IM – SM9 Final

Keane qualified for this medal race after a good swim this morning in the heats. She finished in a clear second place with a time of 2:40.99.

She has said that she is very relaxed going into these races knowing it is not her strongest event.

Although she will not be nervous, this is her last race in what has been a historic Paralympics for the 26-year-old. The gold medal she claimed in the breaststroke a few days ago could give her confidence to push on for a medal again.

The Dublin woman lined out in lane one and starting with the Butterfly she found herself in fourth at the turn. Backstroke is her weakest swim and she dropped off the top three a bit. Next was her favorite the breaststroke and she closed the gap on the medal places.

She finished with the freestyle but it was not enough as she hit the wall at 2:38.64, tiring and dropping into fifth.

The gold went to Australia’s Sophie Pascoe with Hungary’s Zsofia Konkoly taking silver and Spain’s Nuria Marques Soto getting bronze.

Keane can be proud of her performance after coming into the final ranked in seventh to only finish seconds off a medal.

#ParaSwimming S9 100m Breaststroke Champion, Ellen Keane finishes joint 5th in the SM9 200 IM with a time of 2:38.64, setting a new PB

Brilliant performance by Ellen to wrap up her #Tokyo2020 campaign. #TeamIreland | #TheNextLevel pic.twitter.com/VYnTkDjvD5

— Paralympics Ireland (@ParalympicsIRE) September 1, 2021

Róisín Ní Ríaín – Women’s 100m Breaststroke – SB13 Final

This has been a monumental debut Paralympics for Róisín Ní Ríaín as she has taken part in six events.

In the heat for this event, she broke yet another personal best finishing in a time of 1:20.81. She is now ranked in fifth place overall going into the final and hoping to push for her first-ever Paralympic medal.

She started the race in lane two and sprung from the block. The Limerick woman could not find her best form by the turn and found herself in eighth. She pushed on in the last 50m and finished the race in seventh place in a time of 1:20.34, another personal best.

The gold medal went to Germany’s Elena Krawzow, Team GB’s Rebecca Redfern received the silver, and USA’s Colleen Young got the bronze.

Ní Ríaín can still be proud as this was her sixth event, fourth and last final for the 16-year-old at her first Paralympic Games. She will be treated as a hero when she returns home to Limerick in the next few days.

#ParaSwimming Róisín Ní Riain finishes off #Tokyo2020 with ANOTHER PB – what a first Paralympic Games it’s been for the 16 year old #TeamIreland | #TheNextLevel | #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/znneTfi5QJ

— Paralympics Ireland (@ParalympicsIRE) September 1, 2021

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Keane shattered her personal record with her gold medal swim as she recorded a time nearly two seconds better than her previous best – recorded in the heats of the event.

Keane won her heat in style with a then-personal best time of 1:21.71 and improved on it when it mattered most with a scintillating 1:19.93 in Wednesday morning’s final.

The 26-year-old’s rival in the heat, New Zealand’s Sophie Pascoe got off to a better start in the race and took the lead early on.

The Irish Paralympian’s turn after the first 50 metres of the race swung the momentum in her favour and she chased Pascoe down to take home the top prize.

Keane overtook her opponent in the final stretch and touched home in first place with the New Zealander in second.

Pascoe won New Zealand their first medal of the Tokyo Games in a time of 1:20.32, with Adelina Razetdinova taking bronze for the Russian Paralympic Committee in 1:24.77.

Rio 2016 gold medalist Katarina Roxon was the fourth person to touch the wall, doing so for Canada.

Keane talked to RTÉ after her victorious race and spoke of an unexpected event that she feels helped her focus on the race.

“I don’t think it’s fully sunk in yet,” she told RTÉ Sport. “When I dove in my goggles filled up with water but I think that was maybe a good thing because I couldn’t see where the girls were around me.

“Just on the turn I saw Sophie a little bit but I just had a game plan in mind and I stuck to that.”

Keane has added to her bronze medal from Rio with her performance on Wednesday in her fourth Paralympics and has opened the doors for more medal for the Irish athletes over the next two weeks.

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Ireland’s busy morning in the pool began just before 03:00 Irish Time.

Róisín Ní Riain – S13 100m Backstroke (Heats)

Ní Riain was looking to go one better from her admirable performances yesterday in the pool. The 16-year-old, in her first Paralympic race, swam a personal best to reach the final.

Today she went in heat two of the 100m backstroke. Starting in lane seven, she lined up against Team USA, Uzbekistani, and Spanish swimmers.

Her good form continued today as she started fast off the blocks and she held a position near the top of the pack at the turn. The speed continued with the final straight and she finished in third place.

Ní Riain swam her second personal best in two days with a time of 1:09.23, this time would be good enough for her to reach the women’s final later today.

#ParaSwimming Róisín Ní Riain finishes 3rd in her heat to 1.09.23 – a time that see's Róisín go into tonight's final in the S13 100m Backstroke

Two PBs in Two Days for the Limerick native!#TeamIreland | #TheNextLevel pic.twitter.com/MPXcv5d3iC

— Paralympics Ireland (@ParalympicsIRE) August 26, 2021

Ellen Keane – SB8 100m Breaststroke (Heats)

This was Keane’s first race of her fourth Paralympic Games. The 26-year-old is one of the more experienced Irish athletes in Tokyo and showed her class to qualify for this year’s competition.

Keane would go in lane five and be up against a tough opponent in Pasco from New Zealand.

Both swimmers started very fast and broke out in front ahead of all the other athletes. At the turn, Keane was holding onto Pasco’s shoulder and maintaining the pace.

The final 25-meter stretch was very close as the Irish woman began to attack the finish line. By the narrowest of margins, Keane snuck into first place as they stretched out for the wall.

She can be very happy with herself finishing the heats with the fastest time of 1:21.71, a new personal best, and qualifying in good stead for the finals later today.

Keane seems like a strong medal candidate which is very impressive due to a change in classification last year seemingly leaving her hard done by.

リオ2016大会の #パラ水泳 女子100m平泳ぎ SB8で銅メダルを獲得したエレン・キーン選手。#東京2020 大会は4度目の #パラリンピック となりますが、両親が会場以外から声援を送るのは今回が初めてです。皆様、応援よろしくお願いいたします！ Best of luck to Ellen #TeamIreland #WomenInSport pic.twitter.com/dQ4lEeJLAa

— アイルランド大使館 Ireland in Japan (@IrishEmbJapan) August 25, 2021

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