Ministers congratulate Shane Ryan on winning bronze at European Championships

The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Mr. Shane Ross, TD, and the Minister with responsibility for Sport, Mr. Brendan Griffin, TD, congratulated Shane Ryan on securing a bronze medal in the 50m backstroke at the European Championships in Glasgow.

Minister Ross said: “Winning a medal at the European Swimming Championships is a fantastic achievement for Shane, for Irish sport and for Ireland. Having declared for Ireland, Shane has had added spotlight and pressure, on top of the day-to-day pressures of international swimming. And so the achievement is all the greater - it is great to see him deliver a medal. I know he will be very excited heading into the 100m backstroke and medley relay and I wish him well for the rest of the games. I look forward to Shane having more good days in the pool over the coming years.”

Minister Griffin said: “On what has been a great weekend for Irish sport, this is another magnificent achievement and I want to congratulate Shane on a great swim to secure a bronze medal. Let’s hope the 100m backstroke and the medley relay go just as well.”

Ends

Notes for Editors

Shane Ryan yesterday (Saturday 4 August 2018) won a bronze medal for Ireland at the European Swimming Championships in Glasgow. Shane swam the 50 meter backstroke in 24.64 seconds to secure Ireland’s first medal at the Championships and is a very encouraging performance in advance of the 100 meter backstroke and medley relay later in the week.

US born Shane qualifies for Ireland through his father Thomas who is from Portarlington Co Laois. He was based at the National Aquatic Centre for two years in advance of his participation at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Shane won the gold medal in this event for Ireland at the World University Games in 2017. He is leading an exciting young Irish swim team in Glasgow which has already seen a series of excellent performances including national records.

Glasgow and Berlin are hosting a series of European Championships this week and we hope to see more exciting performances from Irish swimmers, divers, rowers, athletes cyclists, gymnasts, golfers and triathletes over the coming days.