Irina competed at both the 2004 and 2008 Summer Paralympics. In both games she won a silver in the 50m freestyle behind South Africa's Natalie du Toit. In 2004, she also competed in the 100m butterfly where she finished last in her heat, 200m individual medley finishing in fifth in her heat but not advancing to the final, 100m freestyle finishing seventh in the final and was part of the Russian team that missed out on bronze in the 4 × 100 m medley by 0.12 seconds. In the 2008 games she also competed in the 100m butterfly, the 100m freestyle, 200m individual medley and the 400m freestyle but failed to make the final in any of the events.