Ellen Walshe wins silver for Ireland at World Short Course Championships

Irish Olympian claimed country’s second-ever medal in Abu Dhabi

Ireland’s Ellen Walshe after winning a silver medal at the World Short Course Championships. Photo: Andrea Staccioli/Inpho

Thu Dec 16 2021 - 16:35

Ellen Walshe produced the swim of her young life to win the silver medal in the 400m individual medley at the FINA World Short Course Championships in Abu Dhabi - Ireland’s second ever medal at a swimming World Championships, and the first in an Olympic event.

Already a Tokyo Olympian in the 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley, the 20-year-old from Templeogue in Dublin also took another four seconds off the Irish record she’d broken earlier in the day in qualifying - that record previously belonging to Michelle de Bruin, going back 27 years.

Currently based at the University of Tennessee, Walshe took second behind her college team mate Tess Cieplucha from Canada, who took gold in 4:25.55. Then came the Irish swimmer with her 4:26.52 with Melanie Margalis of the US third in 4:26.73. With that time, Walsh improved her own Irish record of 4:30.84 set earlier in the heats.

“It doesn’t feel real yet.” Walsh said afterwards. “I knew it was going to be a fast field. It’s just really nice to walk out for my family, friends and country. It feels great to get on the podium, I haven’t been there in quite a while. Tessa [Cieplucha] who won it is a team mate of mine in University of Tennessee, so it’s really nice that I get to stand on the podium with her later today.”

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Earlier on Friday, Tokyo Olympic finalist Mona McSharry became Ireland’s second finalist at these championships, also breaking her own Irish Senior Record in the 50m breaststroke semi-finals - the fourth Irish senior record claimed in what is only day one of the Championships.

McSharry swam 29.65 and will go into the final on Friday ranked third. The Sligo swimmer has not won a world senior medal before, but did win a bronze at the European Short Course Swimming Championships in 2019. Defending champion and world record holder Alia Atkinson from Jamaica was disqualified.

Also on day one, the quarter of Calum Bain, Brendan Hyland, Jack McMillan and Jordan Sloan narrowly missed out on a final place, clocking 3:12.94 to finish ninth in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay, just 0.2 of a second short of the final.