Ellie McCartney is through to the 200m Breaststroke Final, while Ellen Walshe was eighth in her second final, on the fifth day of racing at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.
McCartney had the swim of her life as she stormed into the 200m Breaststroke Final, her first World Final on her debut World Championships (50m).
The National Centre Limerick swimmer came home in a lifetime best 2:23.79 for third place in her heat and progresses as the sixth seed for Friday’s 13.08 (IRL) Final.
The 20-year-old, who started the year with a best time of 2:26.76, knocked .25 of a second off her best time of 2:24.04 from the European U23 Championships in Slovakia in June, where she won a silver medal, and was over a second faster than her heat swim of 2:25.22.
A delighted McCartney spoke after the race ‘I’m ecstatic. You know, this is what we train for, we train to perform in the heats, make it through the semis and progress through the rounds. And I think that’s really been a strength this year that I’ve been able to progress through each of the rounds. So, to make it to a World Championship Final in my first worlds, it’s really exciting. I think here it’s just been so unpredictable, you know, you get top two, top three in a semi-final and you’re not guaranteed a final, so it’s important that you just put your best foot down and whether or not I made the final, I would be able to walk away satisfied just because, you know, I put my best foot forward and PB’d, you know, I know I’ve left everything in the pool.’
On Friday’s Final she added ‘Oh, it’s going to be such an eye-opening experience. You know, I’ve never been at this level, never mind in a final at this level. So, I think just, I have to thank my coaching staff for getting me this far and the support they’ve had and I’m very thankful to have my coach alongside me here, which always does help things.’
Neutral athlete Evgenlia Chikunova will be the top seed for the Final in 2:20.65.
Ellen Walshe has finished eighth in Thursday’s 200m Butterfly Final, her second final of the week, following an eighth place in the 200m Individual Medley on Monday.
The Templeogue swimmer clocked her second fastest time ever in the event in 2:08.34, just outside of the 2:07.48 Irish Record that she swam in Wednesday night’s semi-final.
Speaking after the race Walshe said ‘I think even if I was to go back and think I’d be in that final, I would have been like, absolutely not, but I guess expectations build as you are a competitor, but yeah, it’s just a poor performance tonight.’
Looking ahead to her final and main event of the Championships on Sunday, the 400m Individual Medley, where Walshe was a finalist in Paris, she added ‘I think the expectation now is just rest and recovery. I think I’ve raced six races that I probably didn’t think I’d be in, so, yeah, I think the important thing now is just to recover and wait to see what happens on Sunday. It’s a big heat ahead, I think going in heat two, and it’s quite stacked, so it’d be interesting to see how it goes.’
Canada’s Summer McIntosh won the Final of the Women’s 200m Butterfly in 2:01.99, the second fastest swim ever in the event.
In addition, Jack McMillan will represent Great Britain on the world stage once again in the 4x200m Freestyle relay, the event that McMillan won Olympic Gold in last year in Paris.