Fourth for Wiffen at Euros

Mona McSharry took took two seconds off her 2:24.50 Irish 200m breaststroke record.

Nathan Wiffen of Ireland. Photo by Nikola Krstic/Sportsfile

There was no medal glory for Ireland on the final day of the European Aquatics Championships in Belgrade. Though, Nathan Wiffen did come close.

Ireland go home from the championships with three medals, two won by the Olympics-bound Danielle Hill. The 24-year-old won gold in the 50m backstroke on Thursday and silver in the 100m backstroke on Saturday. Clare Cryan won the third, a bronze in the 3m springboard, Ireland's first ever in diving at the European championships.

On Sunday evening, Wiffen finished fourth in a 1500m final postponed on Saturday due to stormy weather in the Serbian capital, which hosted the championships in an outdoor pool. The twin brother of world 800m champion Daniel was part of a leading group of four until the 900m mark but then slipped off the pace. He finished 15 seconds behind the winner, 16-year-old Kuzey Tuncelli of Turkey. Ukraine's Mykhailo Romanchuck claimed silver and Hungary's Zalan Sarkany the bronze. 

“I was actually quite surprised as I was leading for most of the race," said Wiffen.

"I think it caught up to me as I was feeling it. I’m happy, I’ve equalled my time in the heats, I’m very happy with my second international. Just another year of training and I’ll probably be beating those guys out there.”

In the men's 50m freestyle final, Shane Ryan finished eighth. The 30-year-old broke the Irish record in the heats on Saturday morning. Had he replicated that 21.82 swim on Sunday, he would have claimed bronze. Ryan swam 22.17 in the final, 0.45 off winner Kristian Gkolomeev of Greece with compatriot Stergios Bilas claiming silver. Ukraine's Vladyslav Bukhov won bronze.

“I’m a little disappointed about tonight, yesterday took a toll physically and mentally," said Ryan.

"Look, I haven’t swum that in two years, in a final tonight and at 30 years old and still getting faster and learning, we still make mistakes no matter what level we are at. What a ride so far, we will see what the future holds. Yesterday’s record took me by surprise, that time yesterday would have got me third today, these boy’s train 50 free, I don’t, there’s a lot more there.”
While competing in Canada on Saturday, Mona McSharry broke her own Irish 200m breaststroke record, swimming 2:22.49 in the heats and backing that up with 2:22.68 in the final.

The Sligo native took two seconds off her 2:24.50 Irish record from 2023 at the Mel Zajac International in Vancouver and is now ranked seventh in the world this year.

McSharry had already qualified for the Olympics in the 100m breaststroke. Her 200m time is under the Olympic qualification standard and will give her the opportunity to swim the event in Paris.