Ellie McCartney has won a gold medal and is Ireland’s newest European U23 Champion joining 2023 Champions Mona McSharry, Ellen Walshe and Daniel Wiffen in the list of Irish winners.
McCartney’s win also makes it back-to-back Irish Champions in the 200m Individual Medley at the event, Walshe having won at the inaugural edition in Dublin in 2023.
Third after the Butterfly and Backstroke legs, 20-year-old McCartney surged through her favoured Breaststroke leg in 37.41 to hold an almost two second lead going into the Freestyle leg, a lead she never relinquished, winning by 1.22 seconds in 2:12.50 over silver medallist Bertille Cousson (2:13.72) of France.
A delighted McCartney said ‘I’m definitely excited, I wasn’t expecting it, coming in (to the final) I knew I was fastest seed but I knew the other girls had faster times in them, their PBs were quite a bit faster than mine, so you just get in, race who’s there on the day and get your hand to the wall first and to get my hand on the wall first is really exciting. Not only that, but for Irish swimming, every time this has been raced at U23s it’s been Irish girls who won it, so exciting for the future ahead to see who we can pass the baton on to win the 200m IM next’
The swim saw the National Centre Limerick swimmer, coached by John Szaranek, obliterate her personal best of 2:14.09 in the event, she is now Ireland’s second fastest 200m Individual Medley female ever behind Walshe, and the time will also see her considered to swim it at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, as she dipped under the qualification time of 2:12.83. The Enniskillen native is already qualified for the Championships in the 200m Breaststroke.
McCartney will be back in action on Friday morning in the heats of the 100m Breaststroke.
In Rome, Mona McSharry swam a seasons’ best 1:06.86 in the 100m Breaststroke Final to claim a silver medal. McSharry took one hundredth of a second off her time of 1:06.87 from the Irish Open Final in April to claim Ireland’s first medal of the meet. Great Britain’s Angharad Evans took gold in 1:06.33. McSharry returns to the pool on Friday for the 50m Breaststroke heats.