Mona
McSharry in her final year competing as an Under 23, walks away with a
hat-trick of gold medals after winning the 200m Breaststroke this evening, while
Daniel Wiffen added another silver medal to the gold (1500m) and silver (400m)
he won earlier, he also won best male performance. To close the weekend, in a
stunning display across three day from the whole team and never been done
before, Ireland have topped the final medal table at the LEN U23 European
Swimming Championships.
Mona
McSharry completes the hat-trick at the LEN Under 23 European Swimming
Championships. Sligo’s McSharry opened tonight’s finals, like every night this
weekend, with a stellar win in the Women’s 200m Breaststroke. The Tennessee
swimmer set her intentions at the halfway mark by turning almost a full second
ahead of the rest of the field, she powered home over the last 5 meters to win
gold in a time of 2:25.49.
Speaking
after her gold medal performance McSharry said, “Just unbelievable, I mean the
crowd has been awesome every night and it was just super loud, I think that
really pushed me and I just said that I have to do it for them, it was just
amazing. It’s really tough, even having the mental strength to go out and fast
and get to that level of burn and really, I was just pushed on by them (the
crowd). I think it’s so different to seeing it in person compared to online,
it’s great for young kids and athletes in Ireland to be able to watch this and
see what they could get to.”
Daniel
Wiffen collected his third medal of these championships in the 800m Freestyle,
claiming silver in a time of 7:45.59. Wiffen, who is the current European
Record Holder in this event started extremely well by staying in touch with his
record pace. Ultimately, the final 300m caught up with the Armagh swimmer and
he relinquished the lead to Germany’s Sven Schwarz who finished in 7:41.77.
Commenting
on his race, Wiffen said “I think so, but I'm already sure to be honest, I came
into that race, and I gave everything. So, I'm very happy and, I mean I've had
amazing year. I've achieved loads of pbs. I've definitely put myself in the
question for medals next year. I mean, it's just been very successful and I’m
very happy. I mean, it's not nice to come in second, but I'm going to take a
medal because, maybe disappointed in the long run but overall getting a medal
in front of this crowd is amazing and I'm just very happy.’
Reflecting
on the battle with his German opponent throughout the race, Wiffen said, “No, I
mean, I went 7:39.19, I’m the European record holder for this season and you
probably saw my splits come up on the board and I've been racing him for a long
time and probably lot more to come and hopefully every other time I'll come out
on top of it. It was great. Well done to him."
The
Armagh swimmer had high praises for the performances of Team Ireland throughout
the championships, commenting, “We've had one of the best meets ever in terms
of Irish history and it was amazing to get Gold the first night, and two
silvers, I'm not sure if we're still on the top medal table, but we're
definitely up there and it's great to put Ireland on the map."
Ellen
Walshe closed out her competition by finishing fourth in the final of the
Women’s 50m Butterfly with a new personal best time of 26.64, narrowly missing
a bronze medal by just 0.38 of a second. The Templeogue swimmer is coming out
of these championships with two golds and a silver, an amazing feat considering
she has only returned from the World Aquatics Championships in Japan. A
competition where she achieved the qualification standard in the 200m
Individual Medley for the Olympic Games in Paris next year.
Reflecting
on the competition, Walshe said, “Yeah, it's been a great meet. It's so nice to
have the home crowd here and to finish fourth in the 50m in a race I didn't
even think I'd get back into the final for, like I'm delighted. I'm delighted
to get my Paris QT time out of the way and now I get a whole year to train, and
it was nice to finish on a little fun meet, as me and Mona said, and it was
just get up and see what we had left in the tank. So yeah, I'm delighted to
finish fourth in the 50m tonight. And it obviously would've been nice to hop
onto the podium, but it wasn't there tonight. It's savage (the support). Like I
can't thank everybody enough for coming out. Like we've never had anything like
it. I want to say thanks to everyone that's came out and supported me."
Kilkenny’s
Maria Godden returned to the pool this evening for her third final of the
weekend, this time in the Women’s 200m Backstroke. Godden was in prime position
to secure herself a bronze medal until fading in the last 50 meters, ultimately
finishing in fourth place with a time of 2:14.77.
Reflecting
on her race Godden said, "Yeah, to be honest, I’m tired after that, but as
you said, fourth place, agonisingly close to the medals again. But look, it's
about learning from the experience, what I did wrong there, and I think Jade
(assistant coach) said I went out in 1:04, which is where I need to be. It's
just about working on the backend speed. I've never raced this late into the
season before. I've almost been going a year now. So, I’m looking forward to a
bit of rest.”
Relishing
the local support throughout the weekend, Godden commented, “It was amazing
(the crowd), I’ve never ever experienced anything like this before, walking out
to the call room, hearing everyone cheering for you. A special shout out to my
friends from Kilkenny, from school who drove up to watch me today. So, I was
delighted to make it in for a second swim, it would've been magical to get a
medal, but sure luck. Hopefully better the next time. I was delighted with my
200m backstroke two weeks ago and that’s why it was bittersweet there I would
have liked to replicate it, but I have a consideration time now for the World
Championships, I never thought in a million years I’d get that. So just really
looking forward to putting my head down, working really hard, and figuring out
how I can be faster the next time.”
Grace
Hodgins was also in action in the Women’s 1500m Freestyle tonight, putting on a
brave performance finishing in ninth place overall with a time of 17:16.86.
Swim
Ireland National Performance Director Jon Rudd was delighted with Team
Ireland’s performance stating “A sensational three days of racing for this
Irish Team which saw us lead the medal table from day one and secure the top
position on the final day; it’s a wonderful thing to be able to say that
Ireland are the European Under 23 Champions. A hat-trick of golds for Mona
McSharry, alongside three-medal hauls for both Ellen Walshe and Daniel Wiffen
is outstanding, and to win nine medals and feature in 16 finals indicates a
depth to this young team that is incredibly exciting for the years ahead. Those
finals also featured some agonising fourth spots too – fingernail biting
closeness! We must also remember that some of our leading juniors from Northern
Ireland were away at this time winning medals at the Commonwealth Youth Games,
and had the calendar been kinder to us, we would have had an even stronger team
present here in Dublin. I am very proud of these athletes, their coaches and
the staff that have worked tirelessly for them at this Championships – a home
Championships in front of an inspiring Irish crowd. Long may it last”
Final
Results Sunday 13th August 2023
F 200m
Breaststroke Mona McSharry 2:25.49 (1)
F 50m
Butterfly Ellen Walshe 26.64 (4)
F 1500m
Freestyle Grace Hodgins 17:16.86 (9)
F 200m
Backstroke Maria Godden 2:14.77 (4)
M 800m
Freestyle Daniel Wiffen 7:45.59 (2)
Note to
Editor:
Friday –
Sunday schedule: Prelims: 09:30 / Finals: 18:00
Live
Results
Live
Stream
Photography
available from Inpho Sports Photography
2023 LEN
European Under 23 Championships
Dublin,
Ireland
Name Home Programme Home
Programme Coach
Evan
Bailey New Ross SC Fran Ronan
Jack
Cassin National Centre (Limerick) John
Szaranek
Victoria
Catterson National Centre (Ulster) Kevin Anderson
Eoin
Corby National Centre (Limerick) John
Szaranek
Maria
Godden National Centre
(Limerick) John Szaranek
Grace
Hodgins Trojan SC, Dublin
Jonathan Preston
Molly
Mayne Hamilton Aquatics, UAE Stuart Sant
Mona
McSharry University of Tennessee,
USA Matt Kredich
Liam
O’Connor Project 28, Dublin Andrew
Addison
John
Shortt National Centre (Limerick) John
Szaranek & Ian Claxton
Oisin
Tebite Project 28, Dublin Andrew
Addison
Ellen
Walshe Templeogue SC, Dublin Brian
Sweeney
Matthew
Walsh-Hussey NAC SC, Dublin Dave
Malone
Daniel
Wiffen Loughborough University, England
Andi Manley
Issued by
Swim Ireland, whose Performance Programme is supported and funded by Sport
Ireland & Sport Northern Ireland.
No comments:
Post a Comment