Mona
McSharry and Ellen Walshe collected more European U23 Championship Titles on
day two in Dublin, while Daniel Wiffen added silver to the gold medal he won
yesterday, in front of a sold-out crowd at the Sport Ireland National Aquatic
Centre.
Mona
McSharry opened day two of the LEN European U23 Championships, as she did with
the first, with a stunning swim in the 100m Breaststroke to claim a second gold
medal in a brilliant battle with the USA’s Kaitlyn Dobler. McSharry added to
yesterday’s 50m Breaststroke gold in a time of 1:06.69, by the smallest of
margins, one hundredth of a second on Dobler’s 1:06.70.
A
delighted McSharry said ‘It was just awesome, it was definitely really tight,
it’s hard sometimes in breaststroke to tell if you’re ahead of behind but I
felt like maybe I was a little behind of the start and so I knew it was
definitely going to be a push, but I’m glad I was able to get my hands on the
wall first.’
‘I would
say I was probably a bit more nervous than yesterday going in, you know
sometimes you can do your best to calm the nerves as much as possible but
sometimes they take over a little, you just have to try and use them to your
advantage then’.
Ellen
Walshe collected her third medal of the meet in the 400m Individual Medley,
claiming gold and the European Title in 4:42.37, her third fastest ever swim in
the event. Walshe has already won 200m Individual Medley Gold and 100m
Butterfly silver. It was a gruelling race with the finish coming down to Walshe
and Justina Kozan of the USA. Indeed, it was Kozan who got the touch first in
4:40.97, the American receiving a commemorative medal for her efforts.
Speaking
after the race Walshe said ‘I knew it was going to be a tough one coming into
it, I wasn’t feeling my best today but to come away and win another gold medal
I’m delighted. I would have liked to have been as close to my pb (personal
best) as possible, I’d probably say I’m a little bit disappointed in my
competition, but looking back on my year, I’ve had a long year, I’ve come back
from a massive illness, so I have to give myself a little bit of credit for
that’.
Speaking
about the Irish crowd Walshe said ‘The crowd is absolutely epic, thank you to
everyone who came out and supported, it really makes such a difference, we
never had it before so I’m super grateful’.
Daniel
Wiffen closed the night for Team Ireland with a silver medal in the 400m
Freestyle, adding to the 1500m Freestyle gold he had won last night. Wiffen
went hard to lead out the field for the first 200m of the race, with Bulgaria’s
Petar Mitson, taking over at the halfway mark. Mitson, the World Junior Record
holder in the event, maintained that lead to win gold in 3:46.16 ahead of
Wiffen’s 3:47.57.
Commenting
after the race Wiffen said ‘“I went out a bit hard, sadly I faded a little bit.
I think last night’s event kinda took it out of me, but we move on, so yeah,
good time, good medal. When I got taken over, I knew I had to work hard but I
just didn’t have it and I think going into it I probably went out a little hard
for the shape I’m in, but I’ll take a silver medal, I don’t really mind. I’ve
the 800 tomorrow I’m going to get a lot of recovering in the next 24 hours, hit
the 800 and see how close I can get to my PB.”
A
determined swim from Maria Godden saw her finish in fifth place, the fourth
European, in a strong 100m Backstroke Final. Godden missed the bronze medal by
just two tents of a second touching in 1:02.21. USA’s Isabelle Stadden was the
first swimmer home and the only swimmer under one minute in 59.27.
Speaking
after the race Godden said I’m still probably taking it all in to be honest, I
probably got a little bit excited in the first 50m, it’ll be interesting to see
what my splits were. I am disappointed I have to admit, had I swam the time
that I did this morning, I would have gotten a medal for Ireland, so I suppose
it’s all about learning and just learning from the race, where it went wrong
and not making those mistake again the next time’.
Reflecting
on the meet so far Godden said, ‘I wasn’t sure where I’d be, I kind of had a
rocky start to the year, so even to be here representing Ireland I’m really
really happy, I’ve made a final, I’m like great tick, and move onto the next
thing now which is the podium, makes me hungry for more and for tomorrow’.
Godden returns tomorrow for her main event, the 200m Backstroke.
Eoin
Corby was impressive in finishing in sixth place in the Men’s 200m Breaststroke
Final. The National Centre Limerick swimmer clocked 2:12.90 in a rapid final
that saw France’s Lucien Vergnes in 2:10.04.
Commenting
after the race Corby said, ‘It’s a bit of mixed emotions, I thought I could
have done better, it felt smooth this morning, I thought I’d more in me, but
you can’t complain, sixth in Europe is class, it’s not every day you get to put
on the Irish cap and represent Ireland in a home competition’.
Ireland
will have thirteen swimmers in action and a relay on the final day of
competition, including the three European U23 Champions Ellen Walshe, Daniel
Wiffen and Mona McSharry.
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