Shane Ryan set a new Irish 100m butterfly senior record at the Olympic Games on Thursday.
The 27-year-old swam 52.52 to break Brendan Hyland's previous record by 0.06. He did so despite a shoulder problem when last week forced him to pull out of the 100m backstroke, an event in which he reached the semi-final stage five years ago in Rio.
"I hadn't swam that event since December," said Ryan after finishing fourth in his butterfly heat.
"I haven't trained butterfly at all. It was just an event where I had the [qualifying] time and the opportunity to swim it, so I might as well do it on the biggest stage and enjoy it.
"This was a stress free swim. I knew I could do something pretty fast in it. I'm really happy with the time. I was actually quite surprised."
Shane Ryan sets Irish 100m butterfly record at Olympics
Shane Ryan sets a new Irish 100m butterfly record when finishing fourth in his heat, but unfortunately failed to progress to semi-finals#olympics #tokyo2020 #RTESport #swimming
📺 Watch live - https://t.co/lLKXNi2qcd
📱 Live updates -https://t.co/u9MruxBqNs pic.twitter.com/lwbuxATUkD— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 29, 2021
Ryan pulled out of the backstroke to ensure he would be able to swim in the 4x200m relay earlier this week.
"Leading up to the Olympics, I've really been struggling," he said.
"It's both shoulders. We couldn't do any fast tempo stuff in freestyle or backstroke [in training].
"It was backstroke [where it hurt] mainly because it's above head and there was this really excruciating pain. It was a really hard decision, but we had a relay, and a chance to make history. We did make history: the first [Irish] men's relay ever. I had to put those guys first.
"If I had hurt myself in that 100m backstroke, then I could jeopardise the other two swimmers. I had to put the team first, and I would do it all over again.
"I went to Olympic A standard with those injuries. I know how fast I am, plus my time would have made semi-finals [in the 100m backstroke]. That put me more at ease. I know how fast I actually am. Once I get free of these injuries, just imagine how fast I could be."
🔥 NEW IRISH SENIOR RECORD 🔥
Shane Ryan takes Brendan Hyland's 100m Butterfly Irish Senior Record!!
⏱ 52.52 down from 52.58
💥 4th in heat
💥 37th overall
💥 Up 11 places from pre-meet rankings!!Four Irish swimmers have now set new Irish Senior Records at Tokyo 2020! pic.twitter.com/2sjUBVwy11
— Swim Ireland (@swimireland) July 29, 2021
See Also: Paul O'Donovan Explains How Breaking Up Two Family Pairings Helped Ireland To Olympic Gold
