Ellen Walshe wins 200m butterfly gold for Ireland at European Championships

It was the seventh medal Ireland has won at the championships

A remarkable final 100m of the 200m butterfly won gold for Ellen Walshe. Pic: Nikola Krstic/Sportsfile

Ellen Walshe made history in Poland yesterday evening as she became the first Irish woman to be crowned champion at the European Short Course Championships. The 200m butterfly gold was Walshe's second medal of the week, adding to the silver she had already claimed in the 200m individual medley.

The 24-year-old touched the wall in 2:03.24, 0.31 ahead of Denmark's Helena Bach in second, and 0.83 ahead of Italy's Anita Gastaldi in third.

An incredible second half of the race won gold for Walshe. At the halfway point, she had been in sixth, 1.58 seconds behind the leader. As she turned for the final length, Walshe had moved up to third before that remarkable last 25m.

"I think it was going to be a big race with the girls tonight, it was a stacked field of fliers, so it was going to be about who had the better back-end," she said.

"You just have to hold on for the first 150m and then just try bring it home the last 50 and that's just what I did - I just kicked like hell. I think you have to stick to your own process, which is so important to not race anyone else's race. I know the back-end can be strong, the front-end, it's definitely a weakness that I have, I need to get out quicker. 

"I think you have got to enjoy these moments. I guess to stand on the top of the podium, it doesn’t come often. It's my first gold medal on the international stage. I guess you have to kind of enjoy the moment because it's over now. It's over very quick, but it was great to have the flag and see my parents in the stands."

It was part of a busy evening for Walshe. 45 minutes after winning gold, she was back in the pool for the 400m individual medley final. It proved too much of a task as she finished seventh. Walshe had been in contention going into the final 100m but faded as they moved to freestyle. 

The gold was the seventh medal Ireland has won at these championships. Walshe's second medal added to the two bronze (400m and 800m freestyle) and gold (1500m freestyle) won by Daniel Wiffen, the gold by John Shortt (200m backstroke), and the bronze for Evan Bailey (200m freestyle). Ireland finished fifth in the medal table.

"This has been an outstanding European Aquatics Short Course Championships for Irish swimming," said interim national performance director Andy Reid. 

"The athletes have approached the meet with exceptional professionalism in their preparations and have demonstrated impressive maturity and composure in their race execution through the rounds. Their performances truly speak for themselves. This team has set a new benchmark for Irish swimming, and we are immensely proud of the way they represented Ireland on the European stage."