Swimming:Grainne Murphy missed out on a medal at the European swimming championships by the narrowest of margins this afternoon as she finished fourth in the 800 metres freestyle final. The 17-year-old turned in another sensational performance in Budapest but was beaten into fourth place by just 0.05 of a second.
Murphy, who shaved almost four seconds off her own Irish record with a time of 8 minutes, 25.04 seconds, was always in contention and was in the medals from the 350 metres mark.
She remained there for the rest of the race, jostling for second place with France’s Ophelie Cyriell Etienne as world champion Lotte Friis set the pace.
But Murphy’s challenge flagged just metres from home, and she not only relinquished second but was touched out by Federica Pellegrini in a dramatic finish. Friis of Denmark claimed the gold with France’s Etienne holding on for silver.
After the race, Friis was full of praise for Murphy’s effort: "I didn’t expect the Irish girl to go so fast after me. But she’s a really good swimmer, I’ve been training with her. She is very fast and very young and there is a bright future for her."
Earlier today, Ryan Harrison and Barry Murphy both finished well off the pace in the men’s 100m freestyle heats.
Harrison, who holds the Irish record (49.49) which he set at last year's World Championships while wearing a polyurethane suit, finished third in his heat in 51.16, a season's best for the Derryman.
Dubliner Murphy clocked 51.23 and finished fourth in the same heat. However Harrison and Murphy finished 44th and 47th overall.
Russia's Evegeny Lagunov was the fastest qualifier in 48.50, with compatriot Andrey Grechin second (48.59) and Alain Bernard from France third (48.86).
Murphy used the heat as a warm-up for his main events, the 50m breaststroke and 50m freestyle which takes place tomorrow and Saturday.
Harrison's participation in Budapest is finished and will next race for Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October.
Women's 800m freestyle final result
1. Lotte Friis (Denmark) 8mins 23.27secs
2. Ophelie-Cyrielle Etienne (France) 8:24.00
3. Federica Pellegrini (Italy) 8:24.99
4. Grainne Murphy (Ireland) 8:25.04
5. Camelia Potec (Romania) 8:26.81
6. Erika Villaecija (Spain) 8:27.07
7. Rebecca Adlington (Britain) 8:27.48
8. Eider Santamaria (Spain) 8:42.62