Róisín Ní Riain and Emersyn Scully advance to finals at World Para Swimming Championships

The second morning of the 2026 World Para Swimming Championships saw both Róisín Ní Riain and Emersyn Scully advance to tonight's finals in Kocaeli, Turkey. Ní Riain made her first appearance of the week, while Scully was making her international debut for Ireland. Ní Riain, competing in the first of six events this week, headed into this morning's 100m Breaststroke (SB13) heat as the reigning European champion, having won gold at the 2024 edition of the championships in Madeira, Portugal. Ní Riain advanced comfortably through the heat and into tonight's final in a time of 1:19.69. Ní Riain will return to the blocks this evening as the fourth-fastest qualifier, with just over a second separating the Limerick swimmer from Belarusian Anastasiya Zudzilava. Speaking directly after the heat, Ní Riain said: 'This morning was just about putting down a good, solid swim. It's the first race of the competition, and I was quite nervous this morning, so it's nice to get in and get that done. It's really important to get in and race. I'm usually up on day one, so it was a bit different not racing yesterday, but it gave me that extra night to sit back and watch a little bit of racing and made me even more excited for the rest of the week. It's about taking it day by day, seeing how each race goes, and then resetting before the next one.' Emersyn Scully had an unforgettable international debut for Ireland as she broke her personal best while qualifying for her first European final. The New Ross swimmer clocked a time of 1:16.72, improving on her previous best of 1:17.68 and advancing to tonight's final in sixth place. Speaking after the race, a shocked Scully said: 'No way, I'm actually through to the final. What? That's nuts. I can't believe it. That's crazy. I couldn't see the scoreboard very well, so I didn't know where I had finished. I'm so happy, I don't know what to say.' Both swimmers will return to the European stage this evening for their respective finals, with action set to get underway from 3pm (Irish time).