The Irish swimming team has dealt with its fair share of disappointment in this years games. On Wednesday both athletes in competition failed to progress from their heats.

Barry Murphy failed to progress from his 50m freestyle heat with his second place finish at a time of 22.76 seconds not enough to secure a semi final place. It was heartbreakingly close for the Dublin man, as his time was just within a half a second of qualification and earned him a 29th place finish overall.

Melanie Nocher of county Down competed in the heats of the womens 200m backstroke but the disappointment continued for Irelands swim team, as she was unfortunately six seconds off her best Olympic qualifying time.

The news comes just after super-star Grainne Murphy was forced to withdraw from the Olympics and more specifically her signature 800m freestyle event earlier this week, following a bout of glandular fever (mono) which she originally suffered in March but ultimately ended this particular Olympic dream. The youngster has time on her side though, and will surely return to the pool at full strength in the near future.