Bryan wins bronze medal in Europe

Shannon’s Chris Bryan finished third in the first leg of the European 10K Open Water Cup, in Eilat, Israel in a time of 1:54:14.45, his first top three finish this season.

Bryan was beaten by 2011 World bronze medallist Sergey Bolshakov (1:54:03.75) of Russia and Hungary’s Gergley Gyurta (1:54:03.84). The European Open Water Cup is held over four swims in Israel, Turkey, the Netherlands and Italy finishing in September 2012.

Bryan, who swims out of Swim Ireland’s High Performance Centre in the University of Limerick, will now focus on his one chance for Olympic qualification at the FINA Olympic 10K Marathon on June 10 in Setubal, Portugal.