On day Four our racing in Samorin, Slovakia, Grace Davison secured her second European final this week, this time in the 100m Freestyle, going sub-55 seconds for the first time in 54.95, a new lifetime best for the Ards swimmer.
The Paris Olympian heads into tomorrow night’s final as second fastest qualifier.
Following the race, Davison said: “I’m super excited, I didn’t think I would go under 55 (seconds), now it’s just about rest and recovery, I have the 200 IM in the morning and hopefully I have a double tomorrow night. I’m really looking forward to the 200 IM, even before coming into this week the 200 IM was the main one for me, so to be going into the 100 Free Final in second is super exciting.”
Davison added: “I’m so happy, as I said earlier the 100m Freestyle has been a bit of a mental block for me this year as I haven’t trained for it nearly as much as last year, last year there was so much pressure and focus on it, so this year it was trying to get back to that. I was quite sick in February and March, the Trials (Irish Open) didn’t go well but it’s been an uphill battle from then. It’s so worth it to even to go that time in the semi-final, I’m so happy.”
The 2024 European Junior bronze medallist spoke on defending that medal “I felt pressure, just from myself knowing last year I was bronze, I felt like I had to improve on that. I know already I have the time so that blows the cobwebs away so tomorrow night it’s not about the race, and that’s just a bit of fun.”
There is another bumper morning ahead for Ireland with Irish swimmers competing in eight events across the morning, including Shortt (100m Backstroke) and Davison (200 IM) suiting up once again.