THERE was disappointment for Hackney s Paralympic hope, swimmer Dervis Konuralp, at the Paralympic Games in Beijing that began last weekend. Dervis, from Mare Street, Hackney, who is the borough ambassador for the 2012 Games, didn t qualify for the final

THERE was disappointment for Hackney's Paralympic hope, swimmer Dervis Konuralp, at the Paralympic Games in Beijing that began last weekend.

Dervis, from Mare Street, Hackney, who is the borough ambassador for the 2012 Games, didn't qualify for the final of the first of three swimming events he is contesting at his fourth Paralympics.

In a highly competitive mens 100m butterfly - S 13 category, Dervis, who trains at both London Fields Lido and the Clissold Leisure Centre, Stoke Newington, swam in the third and final heat and came a creditable third in a time of 1 min 02.91, which placed him behind Greek heat winner Charalampos Taiganidis and Charl Bouwer from South Africa.

Unfortunately, only the first two went through to the final, which saw Taiganidis finish second and Bouwer seventh in a race won by Belarus' Dzmitry Salei, in a world record time for the event of 58.69 secs.

After the disappointment, Dervis enjoyed a five day rest before his second event, when he contests the 200m individual medley tomorrow (Friday). On Saturday, he is straight back in action for the 100m breaststroke.

He is the only London swimmer selected for either the able bodied games or the Paralympics.

Dervis, 27, suffers from Macular Dystrophy Stargardt's - a visual impairment that means he has no central vision, but has perfect peripheral vision. He was first diagnosed with the condition at the age of nine.