By Daniel Noble
ARDS Swimming Club para-athletes Bethany Firth and Barry McClements are celebrating medal success at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Six-time Paralympic champion Firth secured Northern Ireland’s first medal of the games on Saturday, taking bronze in the women’s S14 200m freestyle with a time of 2:07.63.
The 30 year-old cruised through her heat and looked to have designs on a gold medal, but she had to settle for third as England’s Georgia Sheffield, who claimed victory with a time of 2:06.07, and Poppy Maskill (2:07.44) took the top two spots on the podium.
She may be more accustomed to the colour gold, but the bronze was a milestone achievement for Firth, as it marked her first medal since becoming a mother in 2024, and it was her daughter, Charlotte, who acted as inspiration this time out.
Speaking to BBC Sport NI, she explained: “It was a real mental battle going into that, and those girls (Sheffield and Maskill) are so good, so just to stand up there, give it my all, and get a medal is great.
“This is an event that hasn’t come back as quickly as the others after having Charlotte, so to put it together and come away with a medal, I’m really chuffed.
“I really struggled and thought ‘is it worth going into this call room, coming and not getting what I want?’, but I kept thinking what I would say to Charlotte, and she was there at the end of the lane, cheering me on.
“I’m so glad I went out there and did it when it was hard.”
With a 15-strong team travelling to Scotland, swimming was expected to breed success for Team NI, and McClements added a second medal to their tally.
Having won bronze at the 2022 games in Birmingham, the 24 yearold went one better this time, bagging silver in the men’s S9 100m backstroke.
His time of 1:03.68 was just 0.68 seconds away from a gold medal, as he finished behind Australian champion Timothy Hodge.
Bettering his showing from four years ago and move up a place on the podium, suffice to say McClements was pleased with his performance in the final.
“This morning, it was about just being comfortable, leaving enough in the tank for this evening.”
“I had a bit of a slip on the start this morning and it didn’t exactly go to plan, so I knew there was a lot in the tank going into tonight, and I think I got everything perfect.”
The glory of winning medals is the ultimate goal for athletes, but McClements has highlighted where he comes from as the driving force behind his success.
He added: “It means a lot. We don’t get to represent Northern Ireland unless we’re at the Commonwealth Games. So, to put our wee country on the map, it’s the biggest privilege, I think, in swimming.”
“Again, I said it four years ago in Birmingham, I still just feel like a normal lad from Newtownards, and I’m just chasing my dream.”
