Paul McCarthy came tantalising close to lowering Declan Byrne's Irish record on the third day of the National Swimming Championships at the Grove Pool in

Belfast yesterday.

The New Ross swimmer, who had shared in the Wexford club's record-breaking relay triump on Wednesday evening failed by less than two tenths of a second to break new ground in the 100 metres butterfly final.

McCarthy finished on 55.58 secs although he was pushed all the way by

Ulster's Andrew Reid who clocked 55.72 in swimming's equivalent of a photo finish.

There was disappointment for McCarthy's club mate, Adrian O'Connor in the 200

free style final as the Irish international finished last with Dougie Hyde, from

Limerick, taking the honours with a time of 1:51.93.

O'Connor had better fortune in the 200 back stroke decider in which his time of 2:01.22 was less than two seconds outside his national record.