John Shortt, Ellie McCartney and Eoin Corby will join Daniel Wiffen (1500m Freestyle Final), Ellen Walshe (100m IM Final) and Evan Bailey (200m Freestyle Final) in Finals action on Thursday night following the conclusion of racing on the third morning of the European Aquatics Championships (25m) in Lublin, Poland.

There was no rest for 200m Backstroke Gold medallist John Shortt as he was straight back into action on Thursday morning in the heats of the 100m Backstroke. The newly minted European Champion and World Junior Record holder eased into the semi-finals in 50.84, just outside the Irish Junior Record of 50.78 that he set at the Munster Championships (25m) two weeks ago.

Shortt spoke after the race ‘I’m really good, you know, this morning was really just about kind of getting back into it and coming down off that really big high from last night, but you know I’ve got a really good group of people around me, just keeping me centred, and to make sure that I remain focused on the fact that we still have another four days of racing, and so, you know, all this morning was all just getting in and making sure I’m doing my skills right and then, you know, the big effort will come tonight and tomorrow evening.’

Following her eighth-place finish in the 100m Breaststroke Final on Wednesday night, Ellie McCartney was back in the pool and cruised into the 200m Breaststroke Semi-Final with a heat win of 2:21.39. The National Centre Limerick swimmer advances in second overall, just behind Great Britain’s Angharad Evans, who won her heat in 2:20.83.

Speaking after the race McCartney said ‘‘I’m excited to really get going, this morning was the case of getting the job done, winning the heat, trying to put myself in a good lane for the semi-final tonight. I’m excited, this is the event I came here for, so hopefully there’s more to come. I think my 100m breaststroke was faster than I expected, so hopefully that translates well into tonight.’

McCartney’s National Centre Limerick teammate Eoin Corby has secured his first semi-final of the week, also in the 200m Breaststroke. Corby was just two hundredths of a second outside his 2024 Irish Record (2:06.45), finishing in 2:06.47. The Limerick man enters the semi-finals fifteenth overall.

Commenting at the conclusion of the race he said ‘I’m delighted to make it back, it a very nervous wait, I’ve never seen so many 2:05s in any European heats in my life, it’s extremely fast heats. It’s all about quick morning swims here, so I’m happy with that, but I think I’ve a lot more in me, so hopefully I can produce something a bit quicker tonight because it’s incredibly close and even if I improved by a second, I’m pretty sure that puts me in third or something, so it’s very stupidly quick here.’

Ellen Walshe, who will compete in the 100m Individual Medley this evening, was impressive in the 100m Butterfly this morning, winning her heat in 57.38 to place seventh overall. The Templeogue swimmer has however made the decision not to compete in this evening’s semi-final, due to a heavy schedule over the next three days that includes the 200m Individual Medley, 200m Butterfly and 400m Individual Medley, all events in which she is the top seed following her performances at the World Aquatics World Cup in October.

Walshe said ‘I think I’ve just struggled on the 100m butterfly this season like just having the front-end speed, I know the backend is there, but I think just like getting the frontend right. It was nice to take the win’.

On a busy few days ahead she added ‘I think I could have quite a few doubles coming to me over the next three days, so I think it’s just going to be like, what do I pick and choose? I think I’ll have to be a bit more selective so yeah, we’ll just have to wait and see how tonight goes and then how I bring it forward for the next few days’

In the Men’s 100m Butterfly Heats, both Jack Cassin and Matthew Hamilton swam personal bests. Cassin was the quicker of the two in 51.49 with Hamilton posting a time of 52.60.

Competition continues tomorrow through to Sunday.

Day 3 Heats Results – Thursday 4th December

Women 100m Butterfly Ellen Walshe 57.38 (7th)
Men 100m Butterfly Jack Cassin 51.49 (23rd) PB
  Matthew Hamilton 52.60 (39th) PB
Women 200m Breaststroke Ellie McCartney 2:21.39 (2nd)
Men 200m Breaststroke Eoin Corby 2:06.47 (17th)
Men 100m Backstroke John Shortt 50.84 (11th)

 

Day 3 Finals Schedule – Thursday 4th December

Women 100m IM Final Ellen Walshe 18.00 (IRL)
Men 1500m Freestyle Final Daniel Wiffen 18.12 (IRL)
Women 200m Breaststroke SF Ellie McCartney 18.32 (IRL)
Men 200m Breaststroke SF Eoin Corby 18.42 (IRL)
Men 100m Backstroke John Shortt 19.01 (IRL)
Men 200m Freestyle Final Evan Bailey 19.27 (IRL)