Paris 2024: Barry McClements sets PB in fifth-place S9 100m butterfly final finish

Barry McClements narrowly missed out on a medal as he finished fifth in the men's S9 100m butterfly final at the 2024 Paralympic Games.

The Irish Para swimmer had a strong second 50 metres of the race at La Defense Arena but missed out on bronze by just 16 hundredths of a second.

The 22-year-old from Down's time of 1:01.24 was a new personal best, improving on his previous mark of 1:01.39.

Italy's Simone Barlaam took gold in a European record time of 57.99 seconds.

Post-race reaction from McClements

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Australians Timothy Hodge (1:00.03) and Lewis Bishop (1:01.08) completed the podium with another Italian, Federico Morlacchi, was fourth in 1:01.24.

McClements had progressed to the final as the sixth fastest qualifier from Friday morning's heats.

The final Irish swimmer in competition, who finished eighth in the 100m backstroke earlier this week, finished third in his heat in 1:01.85, just over a second behind Hodge.

"The time that got bronze, I'm definitely capable of doing that so it's a bit bittersweet," McClements told RTÉ Sport. "But I can't be angry with a PB.

"The race was perfectly executed in my opinion. Just the finish, maybe I didn't spot the wall well enough but I pretty much finished on a full stroke.

"To get a medal was always going to be me having a good race and other people having a bad race. Everybody out there had a good race.

"I think the race was perfectly executed in my opinion - maybe I didn't spot the wall well enough" - Barry McClements reflects on