Walshe claims gold, McSharry silver but no medal for Wiffen at European Championships
Ellen Walshe: "I was delighted to see my hand on the wall first but I couldn't even turn around I was just so dead." Pic: ©INPHO/Andrea Staccoli
Ellen Walshe won a sensational gold medal for Ireland in the 400m individual medley at the European Aquatics Championships. The Dubliner swam an Irish record of 4:34.42, overhauling Great Britain's 16-year-old Amalie Smith in an enthralling final freestyle section.
Walshe was sixth after the butterfly but had moved up to third by the end of the backstroke. She made further progress in the breaststroke, taking second. At the turn of the final 50m, Walshe moved ahead of Smith and powered home.
"I don't think it's fully hit but I just fought so hard at the end," said the Templeogue swimmer.
"I was delighted to see my hand on the wall first but I couldn't even turn around I was just so dead.
"I tried to stick with what I knew. Eventually I hope I can go out a bit faster and build a little bit more but on the backstroke my legs were really hurting and on the breaststroke I just closed my eyes and hoped for the best, on the freestyle, sure it's anyone's game like."
Earlier, Mona McSharry won silver for Ireland in the 100m breaststroke. The Sligo swimmer touched the wall in 1:05.41, breaking her own Irish record by 0.10. She had swum 1:05.64 in the semi-final.
The race was won by Great Britain's Angharad Evans, who swam a championship record of 1:04.87. It was the third time Evans has broken the record at these championships. The British swimmer finished sixth in the Olympic final two years ago when McSharry won bronze.
Benedetta Pilato claimed bronze on Wednesday in 1:05.89. The Italian had held second in the closing metres of the race but McSharry finished strongly.
"It just feels like I did another really good race but I don't think it's sunk in yet that I'm gonna be on the podium," said McSharry.
"I guess Pilato beside me probably touched first because she looked a bit ahead of me and I was like 'Right, 'I know she goes out fast but we got to go'. I think again just kind of trusting the process and adjusting from yesterday paid off."
Asked what is that process, McSharry said: "It's just talking to my coach, dissecting and figuring out kind of what to do. I think in breaststroke specifically that's not always swim harder which can be really hard in the heat of the moment if you let the nerves take over you're like 'I just need to go' and sometimes I'll end up paying for that. I'm glad that I was able to stick to my guns."
On her new national record, she added: "It's really nice to be able to kind of keep inching at that. And it has been a long time since I kind of hit that speed. To be able to kind of punch towards faster and hopefully the 1.04 marker is not too far away."
Not long before McSharry stepped onto the blocks, John Shortt finished seventh in the 200m backstroke final. The 19-year-old swam 1:55.86 from lane two as he finished 2.78 seconds behind gold medallist Hubert Kos. The Hungarian's father hails from Cork. Shortt's time was 0.55 shy of the national record which he set in the semi-finals.
"I really attacked that," said Shortt.
"I knew I had to be out quick tonight. I had to be in the fight with these boys early. They're so, so good off that start. I honestly absolutely went for it. Unfortunately, tonight just wasn't my night.
"That's not going to take away from what has been the best season of my life by a million miles. The positives here is that I went after a different race strategy and paid the price for that. But that's all a part of the learning. That's still under the time that I need to go for LA. Seventh in Europe is not too bad."
Though Olympic gold medallist Daniel Wiffen finished fourth in the 800m freestyle final, he was pleased with his performance. Wiffen ended up 5.71 seconds behind winner Johannes Liebmann of Germany, who swam a new European and championship record of 7:37.59. However, he has endured a difficult time over the last two years, undergoing surgery for appendicitis and abandoning a move to California for training.
"This season's obviously not been the best, but another season's best from the heats, I'm really happy," he said.
"I didn't even think I was going to get in the final 800, it's always been the 1500 that's been the focus. Coming fourth, go five seconds faster than Commies a week ago, over the moon. Just so happy, being back in Ireland. This is my 13th week being back and I dropped 15 seconds in 13 weeks."
Jack Kelly broke the Irish 200m breaststroke record to reach Thursday's final. The New York native, who qualifies for Ireland through grandparents from Cork and Longford, swam 2:09.23. He finished fourth in his semi-final, qualifying fifth overall. Eoin Corby finished sixth in the same semi-final, just 1.04 behind Kelly.
Danielle Hill reached the final of the 50m backstroke, swimming 27.85 to finish fifth in her semi-final and eighth overall. Italy's Sara Curtis set a new world record in the same semi-final as Hill, touching the wall in 26.63.
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