Chris qualifies for World Championships

SHANNON swimmer Chris Bryan has met the criteria for entry to this summer’s World Championships in Shanghai. Chris competes in open water swimming over 10km and at a competition in Israel, he recorded a time of 1.53:01.
The 21-year-old trains at the University of Limerick and his coach, Ronald Claes said he performed well.
“There are a series of European open water events as part of the overall European competition. Israel is probably one of the bigger ones and it’s the first of the year. Swim Ireland set out two criteria to qualify for Shanghai; he had to finish in under two hours and within 10 minutes of the winner. He did both.”
Chris managed this despite having to overcome a significant obstacle. “The field was very big so they split it into two groups and put the entrants from the stronger swimming countries in the first one. There would have been a big advantage in being in the first group, so that was against him. Chris led the second group all the way and he passed some of the swimmers in the front group.”
At the moment, he says Chris is still a few years away from reaching his peak and is younger than the vast majority of those he competes against. Ronald feels the World Championships will be part of a learning curve. “Last year was his first European championship and this is his first world competition so we’ll take it step by step.”
Chris said he was very pleased to qualify for the World Championships. “A lot of hard work has gone into it. It’s a tough sport and it’s great when you make progress like this,” he commented.
The Ballycasey man said the division of the swimmers was controversial. “The sport is growing pretty fast and they’re not used to having such big numbers. They decided to break it into two groups and there was a lot of argument about it but they decided to put the swimmers from the six strongest countries in the first group. A lot of it is about water resistance and the first group would have been going at a much faster pace. We were a minute behind and I led the second group for most of the way.”
His training schedule is quite gruelling. “I do a good bit of mileage. On an average week I’d do about 100km. I’d be on deck in the morning at 5.10am for a 10 to 15-minute warm-up and I’d be in the pool then for two and a half to four hours. I’m back in the evening at 2.30pm. There’s a warm-up for 30 minutes and then I’d be in the pool for another couple of hours.”
The top 10 in the World Championships will qualify in the London Olympics, while a second qualifier will be held in Portugal next summer. In total, there are 25 places but one is reserved for the host country. Chris is hopeful that he will get through after Portugal.
“It’s very hard competing against older swimmers. It’s like the marathon a bit, in that you’re better when you’re a bit older. When I started last year I would have been the youngest competing in the European events and it’ll probably be the same next year. I’d hope to have a good chance in Portugal. There will be about six swimmers from the bigger countries already through,” Chris concluded.