Cora Rooney closes Irish Opens with a third backstroke final

Cora Rooney closed out an encouraging week at the Irish Open Swimming Championships in Wednesday’s 50m backstroke final.

It was a third final of the Championships for the Ballyshannon native at the National Aquatic Centre.

Rooney finished ninth in the 50m version having been fifth in the 200m and sixth in the 100m events.

The Swilly Seals swilly finished in 30.90 seconds in the 50m final out of lane 0. That saw her place ninth having come through her heat in 30.85,

Danielle Hill took gold in 27.85 with Rafaela Azevedo second in 29.12 and Maria Godden third in 29.22.

In Tuesday’s 200m final, Rooney finished in 2:19.93 for fifth.

She came through her heat in 2:21.34 before clocking 2:19.53 - a new personal best over the distance in the semi.

Rooney was also in the 100m backstroke final, finishing sixth in 1:04.51.

Rooney, who is a part of the Swim Ireland National Centre Limerick squad, clocked 1:04.61 in her heat and touched the wall in 1:04.34 in the semi-final.

In 2023, Rooney competed in the 50m freestyle and 50m backstroke at the LEN European Junior Swimming Championships in 2023 in Belgrade, Serbia.

Rooney, who is a scholarship student at the University of Limerick, is coached by her mother, Sinead Donagher, at the Finn Valley Leisure Centre when based at home.

Read next: Recent Finn Valley AC recruit Conor Kelly confirmed for World Athletics Relays

Earlier this year, she spent time on a warm weather training camp at the Barcelo Active Resort in Lanzarote with the national centre squad.