Donegal ties to swimmer who won Gold for Ireland at World University Games

There are strong Donegal connections to Shane Ryan, who won a gold medal for Ireland at the World University Games in Taipei earlier.

Ryan won gold in the 50m backstroke and set a new Irish record in the process.

Ryan, who was born in America, won Ireland’s first medal at these Game.

Shane’s father, Thomas, is originally from Portarlington, County Laois. Thomas has close ties to Donegal and is a cousin of Letterkenny’s Don Sheridan and a cousin of Anne Marie Bonner, formerly of Moonshine Restaurant.

Ryan won gold with a time of 24.72, narrowly beating Justin Ress (USA) – a time that takes him from 23rd to 10th in the world.