Swim Ireland - Ellen Walshe Secures 400m Individual Medley Olympic Time

 

Ellen Walshe starred on the final morning of swimming at the Irish Open Championships and Olympic Trials as the Templeogue swimmer secured a second Olympic Qualification Time in the 400m Individual Medley.

Walshe, already qualified for the games in the 200m Individual Medley, swam an impressive 4:38.05 in the 400m IM, just one tenth of a second outside the Irish Record of 4:37.94 she set three weeks ago at the Leinster Championships.

Danielle Hill continued her great form on the final morning of competition and progresses as top seed to the final of the 50m Backstroke. Hill, who has qualified for the Paris Games in the 50m Freestyle and 100m Backstroke this week in new Irish Records, was just outside her 50m Backstroke Irish Record of 27.95 touching in 28.39.

Hill will not compete in this evening’s 50m Freestyle Super Final where she set a new Irish Record of 24.68 to go under the Olympic Qualification Time of 24.70 on Saturday.

Banbridge’s Adam Wilson secured the centre lane for the Men’s 400m Individual Medley Final in 4:44.27 ahead of Kilkenny’s Leonardo Reis (4:51.21) and New Ross’ Emmet Cousins (4:53.19).

200m Backstroke Champion John Shortt is the fastest qualifier out of the Men’s 50m Backstroke in 25.96.

London 2012 Olympian Barry Murphy, swimming for Guinness SC, posted the fastest time in the Men’s 50m Breaststroke touching in 28.92. Murphy last won a national title in the event in 2014.

In the Women’s 50m Breaststroke, 15-year-old Ava Jones will take the centre lane after a lifetime best swim of 32.35.

Lisburn’s Dylan Registe was the fastest Irish swimmer in this morning’s heats of the 50m Butterfly, registe clocked 24.92 just behind Sweden’s Jonathan King in 24.83. In the women’s heats, Ards’ Emma Reid was the only swimmer under twenty-eight seconds in 27.61.

Sunday evening will be the final action from the Irish Open and Olympic Trials with a final shot for Irish swimmers to add their names to the Paris 2024 roster. Sixteen national champions will be crowned in the Men and Women’s 50m Backstroke, 400m Individual Medley, 200m Breaststroke, 50m Breaststroke, 50m Butterfly, the Women’s 50m, 200m and 800m Freestyle and the Men’s 100m and 1500m Freestyle and 200m Butterfly.