On day five of the European Aquatics Championships in Paris, Daniel Wiffen secured his place in Saturday’s 1500m Freestyle Final, while Ellie McCartney set up a demanding Final and Semi-Final double. Fresh from winning 400m Individual Medley gold, Ellen Walshe progressed comfortably to the semi-finals of the 200m Individual Medley, while Danielle Hill, Grace Davison and Jack Cassin also booked their places in Friday evening’s semi-finals. Mona McSharry will also be back in action on Friday evening as she contests the 200m Breaststroke Final with McCartney.
Daniel Wiffen produced a controlled swim in the heats of the 1500m Freestyle, finishing second in his heat in 14:52.29 behind Germany’s Oliver Klemet (14:48.51). The Olympic champion advances sixth overall to Saturday evening’s final.
He said “I’m really happy, it was great put together race. I mean, actually, some of the skills are pretty bad in terms of double breathing, but that’s okay, it was a heat swim, I was feeling pretty tired, so happy to get the job done.”
On managing performances in the challenging Paris heat, he added “It’s just swim and sleep, I mean, we’re lucky we got a lot of air con in the hotel and I bring a fan with me in the call room to keep myself a bit cooler because otherwise, the 800 I was just sweating, so trying to keep it cool, sleep, nutrition, hydration are the go-tos.”
“You’ve got to really focus on what to wear as well, going to these things. There’s a lot of different areas that kind of change up from a normal race that you would be going into. Plus, I’m not in the best shape, so then also have to take into account that I’m not pushing it too hard in different areas.”
Newly crowned 400m Individual Medley European champion Ellen Walshe returned to the pool on Friday morning and eased into the semi-finals of the 200m Individual Medley. The Templeogue swimmer clocked 2:12.12 to finish second in her heat and progress as the second-fastest qualifier overall.
Walshe said “I’m delighted to be back out there racing again today. It was nice to have a day off as well, just to relax and soak up all the stuff that happened on Wednesday. I’m delighted to be back and will hopefully enjoy it tonight.”
She added “I think it’s hard because I knew I still had work to do at the end of the week, I know the week’s not over, so it is hard to kind of reset the mind and be like we’ve got races that we’ve trained for years for, so I’ve been locking back in. Yesterday afternoon was a bit hard, but I think we’re back on it this morning.”
Swimming alongside Walshe in the same heat, Ellie McCartney ensured she will contest both the 200m Breaststroke Final and 200m Individual Medley Semi-Final on Friday evening. The 21-year-old clocked 2:13.95 to qualify 12th overall and will have just 45 minutes between races.
McCartney said, “It’s great, coming here, being able to get so much more racing experience and getting used to having doubles, because it is something that potentially could affect me in the future, so, to be able to do it here and after having such success last night, being able to wind things down and come back this morning, make it back for that semi-final, I’m really happy.”
“It’s been great being able to do a couple of 2:13s in the morning, I do struggle in the morning sometimes and I think I’m going to struggle tonight after the 200 Breaststroke, it’ll be good, but just got to race.”
“I’m just going to have to manage it, make sure that the support team around me can help me along the way, making sure those 45 minutes are done right and recover well between the two, but not only that, to be in two semi-finals and have two Irish people in it, two in the 200 Breaststroke Final and also in the 100 backstroke semifinals. It’s going to be an exciting night for Ireland.”
Ireland will have two representatives in the 100m Backstroke Semi-Finals after Danielle Hill and Grace Davison qualified from the heats in 1:01.12 and 1:01.14 respectively. Just five one-hundredths of a second separated the three Irish swimmers in action, with Lottie Cullen narrowly missing out after clocking 1:01.17.
Hill said “I’m happy, I haven’t seen it or what I went out in, but I’m really happy with how I put it together. I knew some of those girls were in the 200 back at the start of the week and that they would come home strong, I’m really happy.”
Reflecting on the strength in depth of the Irish in the event, and the two per nation progression to semi-finals rule she added “Yeah, I kind of forgot about that point until this morning when I was warming up and it’s really nice to have, it has been a while since we’ve had that. I think Grace has had a couple of things not go her way at the start of the week, so I’m really happy that she got her hand on the wall, and I know Lottie will be cheering us on from the stands.”
Davison said, “I’m over the moon, I think I’ve kind of been on the wrong side of the semi-finals in my main events this week, which has been slightly annoying.”
“This my first summer racing this event internationally, so to end up making a semi-final is really cool, and look, we had three Irish girls in there, and we’re all battling out for two places. But even to have three that could have made a semi is just insane from Ireland. So, I think that’s something to be really proud of. I’m overall really happy with that swim, the times okay, but it’s all about places.”
Jack Cassin made his first individual appearance of the championships, having swum in the Mixed Medley Relay earlier in the week. The National Centre Limerick swimmer clocked 1:57.79 in the 200m Butterfly, just outside his lifetime best of 1:57.05, to secure a place in the semi-finals.
Cassin said, “I’m super pleased with that, it’s a very strong field, to come back tonight was the main goal, and I definitely just scraped in there, so I’m happy to give my all tonight and see what I can do.”
Looking ahead to the semi-final, he added “I know the guys next to me will be so strong, so that’s really the main goal, to try to dip under that 1:57 mark, and that’d be a really good end to the season, I’d be pleased with that.”
Ireland had four swimmers in action in the 50m Breaststroke heats, with 100m and 200m Breaststroke finalist Jack Kelly leading the Irish contingent in 27.37. Darragh Greene clocked 27.77, Adam Bradley 28.24 and 200m Breaststroke semi-finalist Eoin Corby 28.31.
Rosalie Phelan rounded off her championships with a personal best in the 50m Freestyle. The National Centre Ulster swimmer shaved one-hundredth of a second off the 25.56 she recorded at April’s Irish Open, touching in 25.55.
Also in action, Nathan Wiffen posted 15:15.67 in the 1500m Freestyle. A sub-15-minute swim was required to reach the final, and he will return to competition on Sunday in the 400m Freestyle. Liam Custer clocked 2:04.57 in the 200m Butterfly and will be back in action on Saturday in the 200m Individual Medley.