Team Ireland enjoyed another impressive evening at the European Aquatics Championships in Paris as Jack Kelly became Ireland’s first finalist of the competition, Mona McSharry powered into the 100m Breaststroke Final and John Shortt shattered his own Irish Record to secure a place in Wednesday’s 200m Backstroke Final.
Jack Kelly posted his third fastest time ever to finish seventh in the 100m Breaststroke Final in 59.36. The 23-year-old, who posted times of 59.27 in the heats and 58.90 in the semi-final, had entered the competition with a best of 59.72 and broke the Irish Record twice across the three rounds. He was fourth at the 50m mark in 27.51, ultimately falling back to seventh with a split of 31.85 to finish outside the medals.
Speaking after the race Kelly said “I mean, it was really energetic, so I kind of just soaked it all in, and there was some things to work on, it could have been a little bit faster, but especially in the front half, but you kind of look at that swim on its own, it’s a really good swim for me, so I was really happy with it. I got seventh and it is what it is, but, you know, we move forward.” Looking ahead to the 200m Breaststroke heats on Wednesday morning he added: “It’s definitely one that I’m still working on with takeout and whatnot, but I really like the event, so I’m kind of excited for tomorrow.” Olympic Champion Nicolo Martinenghi of Italy won gold in the final in 58.58 with his Italian team-mate Simone Cerasuolo taking bronze in 58.90. Neutral athlete Ivan Kozhakin completed the podium in 58.68.
Mona McSharry impressed once again as the Olympic bronze medallist won the first of the 100m Breaststroke Semi-Finals in 1:05.64, her fastest time since the Paris Olympic Games and fourth fastest time of her career. The Sligo swimmer goes into the final as the second seed after Great Britain’s Angharad Evans set a new Championship record of 1:04.97 to win the second semi-final.
McSharry said “I’m happy with that, I think being back down at the 1:05s, that was definitely a much better race than this morning. I think this morning I was a little nervous and rushed a bit, and tonight I felt like I really kind of swam my own race, and it felt good, so happy with it. It’s good to be kind of back in here and just progressing through the rounds and trying to get faster every time.”
Looking ahead to the final on Wednesday she added: “I’m excited. I think, you know, going in second takes a little bit of the pressure off and let her kind of soak up lane four and just try and try and get down there beside her as well, a 1:04 would be great.” The 100m Breaststroke Final will take place on Wednesday at 5.58pm.
John Shortt was the final Irish swimmer in the pool on Tuesday night and set a new Irish Record of 1:55.31 in the 200m Backstroke, progressing fifth overall. The Galway man went from seventh at the 100-metre mark to place second in his semi-final in an incredible show of determination.
He said “That was a super imperfect race, a lot of things I did not do well and I’ll be the first one to point them out, but at the same time, it doesn’t matter how you started race, it’s how you finish it and I finished that really, really well. So, I know that there’s more in the tank tomorrow evening, even though that was a super hard swim, I just think that there is definitely more in there, because I did not race that very good. I’m delighted to have been able to get back.”
“I knew exactly where I was and I knew I was not in a good position, but I think this was just showing the old John from when he first started at European juniors a couple of years ago, you can see the level of maturity there, I suppose, in terms of I didn’t panic, I didn’t start to over rate, I didn’t start stressing, the world wasn’t crumbling around me. I knew that I had a lot left in the tank and I could hunt those guys down the last 50, and I could see them all on that last turn and I just went hell for leather, and I was able to get back.” Hungary’s Hubert Kos will be the top seed for Wednesday’s 200m Backstroke Final at 5:40pm (Irish time) after setting a new European and Championship record of 1:52.30 in the semi-finals.
Also, in action on Tuesday evening, Ellie McCartney, competing in the same 100m Breaststroke semi-final as McSharry, was eighth in 1:08.37. She spoke after “Good, it was a tough race, it hurt, I definitely went for it, but I’m glad to be in the semi-final. This is just a prep event for the 200 (Breaststroke) later in the week, so I’m glad to make it back and build on that race experience.” Looking ahead to the 200m Breaststroke on Thursday, following her bronze medal win in the event at the Commonwealth Games she added: “I’m super excited, I want to get in and race if I can do better than what I did at Commonwealths time wise, that’d be great, but just get in and race again and take an opportunity while I can.”
Team Ireland returns to the pool on Wednesday with another busy programme. Olympic champion Daniel Wiffen returns to action in the 800m Freestyle Final at 7:03pm. Earlier in the day, Danielle Farrell, Grace Davison and Victoria Catterson will contest the heats of the 200m Freestyle, while Matthew Hamilton and Jacob Armon line up in the 100m Butterfly.
In the 50m Backstroke, Lottie Cullen is joined by Danielle Hill, the reigning European champion in the event, as both look to progress from the morning heats. Eoin Corby will join Kelly in the 200m Breaststroke.
Ellen Walshe will round off Ireland’s programme when the Olympic finalist takes to the blocks for one of her signature events, the 400m Individual Medley.