Paris Olympic Games Finalist Ellen Walshe starred on night four of racing in Singapore with a new Irish Record in the 200m Butterfly to secure a place in Thursday’s Final, while Daniel Wiffen placed eighth in the 800m Freestyle Final.
Entering the semi-finals as the seventh seed in 2:09.15, Walshe smashed through her own Irish Record of 2:08.42 to place third in the second semi-final, and progresses to the Final ranked in fourth.
Commenting on the race, the 24-year-old said ‘I’m delighted. Like it was an event I really didn’t want to take back up, and I think just to see how far I can get it, I have to be happy as a junior level I really struggled to kind of move it on, but now I can see a lot of progress and the back ends definitely there.’
Looking ahead to the Final she added ‘I’m looking forward to tomorrow to see if I can kind of be a little bit better through the front speed a bit, but yeah, I’m in against some really big names, so it’s going to be exciting.’
Australia’s Elizabth Dekkers will be the top seed for the 12:02 (IRL) Final in 2:06.13.
In the 800m Freestyle Daniel Wiffen was eighth in 7:58.56. Exactly one year to the day he was crowned Olympic Champion in the event, the 24-year-old lead for the first 350 metres, and then struggling with stomach pain, fell back through the field to finish in 7:58.56.
Speaking after the race Wiffen said ‘Obviously not my best showing, from last year winning the Olympics to coming eighth in the final. But honestly, I’m happy to be in the final, still progressing, still getting those nerves up. You know, that’s what sports about, trying to get myself uncomfortable, and I was definitely uncomfortable in that race. I’m pretty sure I was leading at one point and then I got to 400m and then just kind of stomach was in pieces, so not my best showing, but, you know, I’m happy to be in the final, I’m happy to represent Ireland again in a final.’
In the 50m Backstroke Semi-Final Danielle Hill swam faster than her morning time of 27.84, touching seventh in her heat in a season’s best 27.71. Hill was just seven hundredths of a second outside her Irish Record of 27.64 to rank twelfth overall.
The Larne swimmer spoke after the race ‘I don’t know, very mixed emotions. I think, you know, looking at it, it is fast. I suppose, it’s now become an Olympic event, so I suppose a few more people are a little bit more switched on. So, yeah, listen, of course I want to be in that final, but, you know, I’ve been around that time now for a couple of years, so there’s something there that we’ve got to look at and change in order to get that improvement. So, all in all disappointed obviously not to make that final, but massive learning, and last week I wasn’t even swimming 25 metres of backstroke and, you know, I’ve done two races now so I’m happy.’
Five Irish swimmers and one diver will be in action on Thursday morning in Singapore, the fifth day of the World Aquatics Championships.
Hill is back for the 100m Freestyle Heats. John Shortt returns for his main event, the 200m Backstroke and Mona McSharry and Ellie McCartney are back on the blocks for the 200m Breaststroke, as is Eoin Corby.