Terrific Turner wins silver medal in Tokyo

Nicole Turner has won a silver medal at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo - after producing a sensational personal best time in the final of the S6 50-metre butterfly this morning (Monday).

The swimming ace from Garryhinch, Portarlington - close to the Offaly/Laois border - swam superbly to record a time of 36.30 seconds.

China’s Yuyan Jiang — who set a new world record of 34.56 in the heats earlier on Monday morning — won gold with another wonderful display in a time of 34.69. But Ireland's Turner was next best in a final where just over a second separated second place from sixth.

Speaking to RTÉ’s Darren Frehill moments after the final, Nicole said: “To be honest, it hasn’t sunk in at all”.

Having been so close to a bronze medal in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Nicole has exceeded her expectations by winning a silver medal, and she was understandably delighted with her performance.

"The aim after Rio was just to get on the podium in Tokyo, but I never in a million years thought I’d be silver. I always thought I’d be in a fight for bronze,” said the talented Nicole.

After finishing eighth in the S6 50m freestyle final last week, Nicole set her sights on doing better in other events, and said memorably: “The 50m freestyle is not a serious event for me, it just dusts off the cobwebs."

There was certainly no sign of cobwebs from Nicole this morning as she won a silver medal for Ireland!

Click below to watch the race and a thrilled Nicole giving her reaction to RTE:

And here's Nicole's brilliant post-race interview: