Ellen Walshe finishes fifth in the world on record-breaking day in Budapest 

Ellen Walshe of Ireland before the 50m butterfly semi-final on day one of the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) at the Duna Arena in Budapest, Hungary. Picture: Nikola Krstic/Sportsfile

Ellen Walshe set new Irish records in all four of her races at the World Swimming Championships in Budapest on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old Dubliner finished fifth in the 200m individual medley final, swimming 2:05.52 to take nearly a second of the record which she had set in the heat earlier in the day.

20 minutes before her final, Walshe swam 25.45 in the 50m butterfly semi-final, finishing 14th overall, and dropping the Irish record which she had set in the heat by 0.20. 

"That’s an absolutely stacked heat," Walshe said about her performance in the final.

"It’s great to be a part of it with the girls and we can only build from there, but yeah, it’s a massive step forward from last year and I’m delighted it’s another second off this morning’s swim, which I wasn’t sure if we could find, but it was there, so absolutely delighted."

Walshe thought of the 50m butterfly semi-final as a warm-up for the medley.

"I obviously wanted to be down under 26 (seconds) again tonight and that’s where I was, so I said if that’s three records, then let’s make it four," she said.

"I went into the 200 (IM) a lot more confident than I thought I would this week."

Nathan Wiffen, twin brother of Olympic gold medallist Daniel, made his World Championships debut on Tuesday setting a new personal best of 14:32.65 in the 1500m to finish ninth overall.

"I’m pretty happy with that," he said.

"I’ve had a long summer and then to come back and get a six second PB, I’m pretty happy. I think I lost it a bit after the 1,000 (metre) mark, I just felt wrecked to be honest, as I tried to go out quite hard. But pleased with that, a PB, you can’t ask for much more."