Four Irish swimmers will contest finals at the European Aquatics Championships on Wednesday evening after the morning session at the Olympic Aquatic Centre in Paris.
Daniel Wiffen, Mona McSharry and John Shortt came through the qualification process on Tuesday, and their team-mate Ellen Walshe has joined them by progressing from the 400m individual medley semi-finals.
Walshe, who won European gold in 2022, was sixth overall in terms of time with 4:41.76 in the first semi-final and that was enough for second place. Her final starts at 6.54pm.
“I’m delighted to be into a final tonight,” said the 24-year-old. “It is going to be a stacked final tonight, so we’ll have to see how we play it.”
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Shortt, the world junior champion, will be the first Irish finalist in the pool for the 200m backstroke final at 5.40pm, with Olympic bronze medallist McSharry to follow in the 100m breaststroke final at 5.58pm.
Reigning Olympic champion Wiffen is in the final of the 800m freestyle at 7.03pm.
Also this morning, Danielle Hill, Jack Kelly and Eoin Corby made it through to the semi-finals in their respective events.
Hill finished fourth in her 50m backstroke heat and 11th overall in 28.08 seconds, and she will compete in the semi-finals from 6.26pm on Wednesday. Lottie Cullen, however, missed out on qualification, clocking 28.87.
“I feel like I’ve been waiting for that for ages,” said Hill, the defending European champion who has endured a tough couple of years with a shoulder injury. “Not only during the meet, but obviously since the Commonwealth Games.
“So yeah, 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.”
Hill was pleased to have previous experience of a quick turnaround from the Commonwealth Games, which only took place a fortnight ago.
“We did it back in 2022 as well, there was an even quicker turnaround,” she said. “I think we learned a lot from that and, to be honest, after everything over the last couple of years, I’m just so glad to be back on this stage again.
“And I think coming to the end of your career, you also don’t really take these moments for granted. I’m trying to enjoy every little bit, you never know when it’s going to be it.
“Listen, it’s been tough but it’s what we train for.”
Kelly, who finished seventh in the 100m breaststroke final on Tuesday evening, made a swift return to the venue for the 200m breaststroke heats. He went out fast again to claim the fifth-fastest time in 2:10.14.
Corby, who was in the same heat, finished in 2:10.85 and also made the semi-finals, which will take place this evening.
“I swam that race pretty well and I think tonight I’ll be a little more fresh,” said Kelly. “I can’t really complain about that swim, it went really well.
“I like taking it out and I’ll probably do the same thing tonight. I feel pretty good, it was exciting, it was a really cool experience.
“The fans are pretty electric here, the environment’s pretty electric. It’s been great, it’s been a great meet so far and I’m kind of excited for what I have next.”
There were no Irish qualifiers from the trio who competed in the women’s 200m freestyle, with Grace Davison (1:59.48), Danielle Farrell (2:01.56) and Victoria Catterson (2:02.38) missing out on the semi-finals.
Likewise, Matthew Hamilton (53.32) and Jacob Armon (54.72) did not progress to the 100m butterfly semi-finals.
Four Irish swimmers will compete in finals on Wednesday evening in Paris
