Limerick's Róisín Ni Riain just pipped for bronze medal in 100m butterfly at Paris Paralympics

LIMERICK'S Róisín Ni Riain was just pipped for a bronze medal this Thursday evening in the final of the S13 100m butterfly at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

Swimming from lane 2 at the La Défense Arena, the 19-year-old from Drombanna finished strongly, but just couldn't pass Muslima Odilova to claim bronze - just 0.21 seconds away from a medal.

Ní Riain's time of 1:06.04 was just outside her personal best of 1:06 - bronze was claimed in 1:05.43.

Ní Riain, who has a visual impairment, is one of Team Ireland’s medal hopefuls at this year’s Paralympics - she will next compete in her main event, the 100 metre backstroke S13 final, on Friday evening, 6.51pm Irish time. 

She will then have three days off to recover before she competes in the 200m Individual Medley at 10:20am on Tuesday, September 3. Her final day of events takes place on September 5 with the SB13 100m Backstroke at 10am.

The Limerick native made her Paralympic debut in Tokyo where she competed in six events and qualified for five finals. She is the current World Para Swimming Champion in the 100m Backstroke and also holds the world record in the 200m backstroke, which she set in 2023.

While competing at an elite level in swimming, Róisín is also balancing her academic pursuits, and is studying for a Degree in Science at the University of Limerick.