Irish records continue to tumble at world swimming championships 

Ireland's Ellen Walshe

Irish senior records continued to fall at the FINA World short course swimming championships in Abu Dhabi.

2020 Olympian Daniel Wiffen set two new records on Monday as he made it through to the 1500m Freestyle final in sixth.

Wiffen broke his own national record when coming home in 14:32.13 to finish fourth in his heat and sixth overall.  In the process he also smashed his 800m record by five seconds (7:41.82).

Wiffen said: “It’s unbelievable. That was my goal for this meet, to make the Final, and I’m not even in last, I’m in sixth, so I’m not even in the outside lane, which is going to be good. And I got a massive PB as well. I wanted to go with the guys at the front anyway to see what it was going to be like holding the pace, and I think I stuck with them for quite a good bit and then obviously I just tailed off a bit at the end. But I think I can improve in the final tomorrow.

Ellen Walshe produced two stunning swims in the 200m Individual Medley and 100m Butterfly heats, earning a spot in the latter’s semi-finals on Monday afternoon.

In the 200m Individual Medley heats she dropped three seconds from her own lifetime best and two seconds from the Irish Senior Record set by Niamh Kilgallen in 2017 when clocking 2:08.69. She finished 9th, missing the final by 0.09.

In the 100m Butterfly heats she bettered her national record of 58.51 when swimming 57.32. She goes into the semis in 14th place.

These performances mean Ireland has now achieved 11 Irish Senior Record-breaking swims in Abu Dhabi.

Jack McMillan, who was part of the quartet that finished 6th in the Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay final on Sunday, will also be in semi-final action on Monday afternoon. The National Centre Ulster swimmer clocked 47.04 in his 100m freestyle heat to finish 9th overall. Semi-Finals for 100m freestyle start at 2.14pm (Irish time) this afternoon.