MAX AND DAIRE CARRY MONAGHAN HOPES IN PARIS OLYMPICS

Two athletes with Co Monaghan connections will be vying for Olympic Games glory in the coming days. Swimmer Max McClusker, originally from Monaghan but now resident in Glastonbury in England, is competing in the 4x100m Medley Relay, the heats of which commence on Saturday August 3 next. Max attended the sport specialist Millfied School in England before heading to the USA on scholarships, where he attended Florida State and then Arizona State where the team took second at the NCAA championships.

At the World Championships in Doha earlier this year, McCusker matched and then broke Shane Ryan’s Irish 100m butterfly record to earn a spot for a swim off for a semi-final lane. He didn’t progress but broke his own record in the process, swimming 52.31 seconds. He then broke his own record again at the National Olympic trials, swimming 51.90 seconds, but failed to swim the 51.67 required in the finals that would have qualified him for the Olympics in the event. Rower Daire Lynch, whose mother hails from Monaghan Town, has already delivered a commanding performance along with Philip Doyle to qualify for the finals of the men’s double sculls…