Swim Ireland LEN European U23 Championships - McSharry and Walshe Show Their Class in Day 1 Heats

 

A strong Irish team played host to the first ever opening session of the LEN Dublin European Under 23 Swimming Championships at the Sport Ireland National Aquatic Centre this morning. Ten Irish swimmers were amongst the field that included the best European swimmers from the age grade along with invited nations of the United States and South Africa.

It was a good morning for the Irish swimmers as Mona McSharry and Maria Godden secured their places in their respective finals whilst Ellen Walshe qualified on the double to progress to two finals in this evening’s session. The finals will also showcase the championship debut of  European Record holder and World Championships finalist Daniel Wiffen, who will race for a medal in the final of the 1500m Freestyle. It was also a fantastic morning for New Ross’ Evan Bailey, who set a new National Junior Record in the Men’s 100m Butterfly in front of a vibrant Dublin crowd.

Mona McSharry was the first Irish athlete to taste competition at the Dubin based championships in the Women’s 50m Breaststroke. The Ballyshannon Marlins swimmer eased into the final as she won her heat in fine style swimming a time of 30.66, to record the second fastest time of all three heats behind only Anita Bottazzo from Italy who touched in 30.08. McSharry will now compete for a medal in the final of the Women’s 50m Breaststroke this evening where she will have a great chance of claiming a first medal of the championships for Team Ireland.

Speaking after her swim McSharry said “I’m happy with that as a morning swim, you know the 50 can go either way and I think on the first day everyone is kind of figuring everything out and so that’s what this is about, but I think having it in my home pool gives it a little bit more comfort because I have raced here so many times.”

Ellen Walshe was the busiest of the Irish athletes this morning as she competed three times in the heats including in the Mixed 4 x 100m Medley. Walshe was in individual action first and will be in the pool twice more in the finals after winning through to the final in both the 100m Butterfly and 200m Individual Medley. In the Women’s 100m Butterfly, competing in the third heat, Walshe eased into the lead early and was the first athlete home as she comfortably progressed through to the final with a time of 58:86. Walshe finished as the second fastest athlete overall from the four heats this morning behind only Emma Stickleman from the USA who had a time of 58:43. Walshe repeated the trick in the Women’s 200m Individual Medley as she lead home her heat with a strong last 100m to ensure her progress through to a second final this evening, second overall behind Justina Kozan of the USA.

Reflecting on her race Walshe said “It felt okay, it was a faster heat swim than I did in Worlds and I’m happy enough with it. We know the pool better than anybody else, like it’s our home, we’ve swam in it so many times so it’s nice to have a home meet here.”

Maria Godden competed against a particularly strong field in the Women’s 50m Backstroke. Her time of 29:20 was good enough for a third-place finish in her heat behind the Dutch duo of Hosper and Giele. It was an anxious wait for Godden before her qualification through to the final of the event was confirmed as the eighth placed finisher overall.

Speaking after her race Godden said “It was okay, I was a little bit off my best, for me 50 isn’t an event that I would put my primary focus on so I kind of just use it as a good tune up for the 100m and 200m over the course of the weekend. This is probably the highest calibre long course meet I’ve ever been to. I’ve only ever been to junior long course championships so I’m really excited and having it in my home pool makes it all the more special.”

The Men’s 100m Butterfly featured two Irish athletes, Jack Cassin and Evan Bailey competing in the same heat. Cassin was the first of the duo home with a time of 54:08 to finish in sixth place, and was followed home by his teammate, Evan Bailey, who will be delighted to have set a new Irish Junior Record with a fantastic time of 54:22. Bailey in fact broke Cassin’s record of 54.29 set at the 2023 Irish Open in April, Cassin, now a senior, is not eligible to break the record again.

There was interest on the double for Team Ireland in the 50m Breaststroke as both Eoin Corby and Liam O’Connor competed in that event. Corby swam in the second heat finishing in joint fourth in a time of 28:10 with O’Connor coming home in tenth position in the final of the three heats with a time 29.02.

Speaking after his debut swim at a major championships O’Connor said “It’s insane, I wish everyone could experience this just once, I am so grateful, I’m never going to take it for granted, repping the flag and wearing that green jacket. I love it so much.”

16-year-old John Shortt, the youngest member of Team Ireland, was in action as he competed in the Men’s 200m Backstroke. Shortt competed in a strong heat with American Tapp Hunter leading out from the start to record a fast time of 1:58.32. Shortt’s time of 2:00.18 saw him finish in third place in his heat, in a dead heat with the Greek swimmer, Makrygiannis, finishing just outside the Top 10 required to progress directly through to this evening’s final, although he will be a reserve for the event.

Victoria Catterson competed in the Women’s 200m Freestyle where she swam in a particularly strong heat recording a time of 2:01.70 to finish in eleventh place overall narrowly missing out on a place in the final by just 0.2 of a second.

The Irish relay team completed the mornings action for Irish swimmers as they competed in the Mixed 4 x 100m Medley. Ellen Walshe returned immediately to the pool after her own Individual Medley performance and she was joined by John Shortt, who led the team off, followed by Eoin Corby, before Walshe herself swam the third leg and Victoria Catterson anchored the team home. The team put in a brave display to finish in fifth place in their heat  in 3:54.74 which meant they finished in 12th place overall, narrowly missing the finals this evening.

There will be plenty of Irish interest in this evening’s finals as Mona McSharry, Ellen Walshe and Maria Godden will race for places on the podium. They will be joined in the finals by Grace Hodgins (800m Freestyle) and Daniel Wiffen (1500m Freestyle) who will make their first appearances of the championships. The Finals will take place at the Sport Ireland National Aquatic Centre at 6pm with McSharry expected in the pool in the first final of the championships at 6pm.