Dec 15,2024
Ellen Walshe closed out an excellent World Aquatics Swimming Championships by finishing sixth and fifth respectively in two finals in Budapest this evening.
The 23-year old Dubliner qualified for the 100m butterfly final with a new Irish record performance last night, following up this morning by qualifying fifth overall in the heats of the 400m medley, the event in which she claimed bronze in Abu Dhabi in 2021.
Walshe was unable to find her way onto the podium this time but produced another fine swim in the butterfly final, clocking a 55.68 time, not far off her Friday evening performance.
To no great surprise, the race was won by America's Gretchen Walsh who set a new world record in yesterday's blistering heat.
In the more gruelling 400m medley - 16 lengths in a 25m pool - Walshe was behind the eight-ball early but finished strongly to place fifth in a time of 4:29.86, with 18-year old Canadian Summer McIntosh claiming gold.
Reflecting on her day's work, Walsh said: "I'm happy enough, I knew tonight would be tough with a lot of fatigue in my legs, but happy to come away with fifth and sixth in each of the events."
On the week as a whole, she added: "I can't really remember right now! I’m definitely feeling it but yeah, I’ve had a great week, and I couldn’t have probably asked for more, it’s a pity there wasn’t a bit more in the 400 (IM) but considering the week that I’ve had, I can’t really expect much more."
Nathan Wiffen placed eighth in the final of the 800m freestyle.
Wiffen, twin bother of Ireland's Olympic gold medallist Daniel, swam the marathon 32-length race in a time of 7:35.92, finishing 05.36 seconds behind the winner, Hungary's Zalan Sarkany.
Earlier, Shane Ryan was unable to back up his backstroke heroics in the 50m freestyle, the two-time bronze medallist finishing eighth in his semi-final in a time of 21.28, which was 0.21 slower than the new Irish record he posted in this morning's heat.
Commenting after the race, he said: "Tonight I swam it a bit different, I tried to be a bit more aggressive but then you slip and I'm not really an aggressive type of person, I’m big and I like gripping the water a bit more so I think I need to use my strengths, but hey it’s a 50, so it was fun and great to make it to the semi-final."
On Sunday, the final day of competition in Budapest, Evan Bailey and Lottie Cullen make their World Championship debuts in the 200m freestyle and 200m backstroke respectively.
John Shortt returns for the 200m backstroke having set a new Irish junior record in the 100m backstroke earlier in the week. The 17-year-old is the Irish record holder in the event having lowered his own record of 1:54.02 to 1:52.62 last month.
