Team Ireland enjoyed another productive morning at the European Aquatics Championships in Paris, with Ellen Walshe comfortably securing her place in the 400m Individual Medley Final, Jack Kelly and Eoin Corby advancing to the semi-finals of the 200m Breaststroke, and Danielle Hill making a successful return to championship action in the 50m Backstroke.
Attention now turns to Wednesday evening’s finals session, where Walshe, Kelly, Corby and Hill will all return to action. They will be joined by John Shortt in the 200m Backstroke Final, Mona McSharry in the 100m Breaststroke Final and Olympic champion Daniel Wiffen in the 800m Freestyle Final as Team Ireland bids for further success in Paris.
Ellen Walshe secured her place in the 400m Individual Medley Final after a controlled morning swim saw the Templeogue swimmer place second in her heat in 4:41.76. Walshe advanced sixth overall and returns to the final as the Irish Record holder with a best of 4:35.32 from the 2025 World Championships. Her season’s best stands at 4:37.20.
Walshe spoke after the race “I think with only two heats and I was the first of them, you had to hopefully win it or come in the top two to guarantee that spot for tonight, which is probably exactly what had to happen, seeing that the next heat has just completed. Delighted to be into a final tonight. It is going to be a stacked final we’ll just have to see how it plays out.”
100m Breaststroke finalist Jack Kelly returned to the pool on Wednesday morning to compete in the 200m Breaststroke, with both Kelly and team-mate Eoin Corby qualifying for the semi-finals from the final heat.
Kelly clocked 2:10.14, his second-fastest time ever, to place third in the heat and progress fifth overall. Corby swam 2:10.85, his third-fastest performance, to finish fifth in the heat and tenth overall.
Kelly spoke after the race “I think I swam that race pretty well, and just clean up stuff for tonight, be a little more fresh, and, yeah, can’t really complain about that swim, it was really good.”
Reflecting on Tuesday night’s 100m Breaststroke Final, he added “It was exciting, it was a really cool experience, the fans are pretty electric here, the environment’s electric, it’s been a great meet so far, and I’m kind of excited to see what I have next.”
Corby said “I’m delighted with that, I wasn’t too happy in my 100m (Breaststroke), so I came in here with my head screwed on, I really wanted to make it back because watching the semifinals and finals yesterday with John and Mona and others, it was a class atmosphere, so I really wanted to make it back for that two hundred and glad I did.”
Ireland’s third semi-finalist of the morning came in the 50m Backstroke through Danielle Hill. The reigning European champion from Belgrade 2024 clocked 28.08 to place fourth in her heat and advance as the eleventh seed.
The Larne swimmer spoke after the race “I feel like I’ve been waiting for that for ages, not only during the week, but also obviously from Commonwealth Games, so it was nice to just get in there. I’ve been listening to the atmosphere every morning when I’ve been here supporting, but to be in it was really exciting and really fun.”
Also competing in the event, Lottie Cullen posted a season’s best of 28.87, just 0.18 seconds outside her lifetime best of 28.69.
In the Women’s 200m Freestyle heats, Grace Davison led the Irish contingent with a personal best of 1:59.48, lowering her previous mark of 1:59.52. Danielle Farrell and Victoria Catterson brought their championship campaigns to a close with times of 2:01.29 and 2:02.38 respectively, with Farrell’s swim representing a lifetime best by over a second.
The Men’s 100m Butterfly heats saw Irish Junior Record holder Matthew Hamilton and international debutant Jacob Armon take to the pool. Eighteen-year-old Hamilton touched in 53.32, while Armon recorded 54.72 in his first appearance for Team Ireland.
Ireland’s evening programme begins with John Shortt in the 200m Backstroke Final at 5:40pm (Irish time), followed by Mona McSharry in the 100m Breaststroke Final at 5:58pm. Jack Kelly and Eoin Corby return for the 200m Breaststroke Semi-Finals at 6:08pm, before Danielle Hill competes in the 50m Backstroke Semi-Final at 6:26pm. Ellen Walshe takes to the blocks for the 400m Individual Medley Final at 6:54pm, while Olympic champion Daniel Wiffen closes out the Irish schedule in the 800m Freestyle Final at 7:03pm.