There was more success for UCD Swimming last weekend as Aisling Cooney, a UCD Food Science student competed at the European Short Course Championships in Eindhoven.

Cooney had a spectacular week’s performance, finishing 9th at this European Championships. Aisling competed in the 3 backstroke events but had her most spectacular result in the Women’s 50m backstroke, qualifying out of the prelims to swim in the semi-finals. In the semi-final Aisling dropped half a second to set a new Irish record but was to miss the final by an agonizing 3 100ths of a second.

Speaking about her performance, Cooney stated, “I was really pleased with my overall performances, making a semi final was my goal and I just missed out on a final, so that will be my aim next time.”

UCD Swimming Coach Earl Mc Carthy echoed Aisling views, saying “Aisling had a tremendous performance in the semi-final, setting a new Irish record and the first woman under 28 seconds for a 50m backstroke sprint; this result while being agonisingly close to the final will help motivate her even more in training.”

Despite just missing the final, a 9th place finish at a major European competition is a significant result for Aisling who also competed at the last Olympic Games. With this major breakthrough swim Cooney has her goals firmly set on next year’s World Championships and World Student Games, both competitions taking place next summer in China.