Irish Athletes Fire up in Belgrade
As temperatures increased in Belgrade, so too did Irish performances as five Irish athletes moved through the rounds in on day three of the European Aquatics Championships. Danielle Hill, Lottie Cullen, Darragh Greene and Eoin Corby will join Shane Ryan, John Shortt and Nathan Wiffen tonight for the evening finals, while Ciara McGing will compete in the 10m Platform Final.
Just three weeks after her showstopping performance at Olympic Trials in Dublin, Larne’s Danielle Hill was back in the pool to compete in the 50m Backstroke, her first appearance of the week in Belgrade. Hill blazed through one length of the water in 27.98 seconds to progress through the heat as fastest qualifier.
The Paris qualified swimmer spoke following her morning swim: “I’m really happy after that, first swim out of the way which is always nice. I think this morning it was just about how I was feeling, it’s only been three weeks since trials so it’s nice to see where I am.”
Speaking on her aims heading into this meet, Hill added: “It’s just about sharpening up, making sure everything is laid out properly for Paris, this is the last opportunity to go through the rounds which is why I chose to come to Europeans. It’s about working on the little things, not necessarily in the pool but in and around it and iron everything out.”
Lottie Cullen, who is competing at her first international meet, will join Hill this evening in the 50 Backstroke Semi-Final. Cullen stopped the clock on 29.30 to move into the semi-final in sixteenth place.
Cullen said: “Feeling pretty good, it felt quite comfortable and strong, it was pretty fast for a morning swim from what I’ve been all year, so I’m happy to make it through and come back tonight. It’s been a busy couple of days, so it’s nice to have just one length of the pool rather than two or four.”
Moving across the city of Belgrade to the Serbian Sports Institute, Ciara McGing was on the 10m Platform to compete in the preliminary round. McGing qualified safely for the final in fifth place on 254.40, her highest score coming in the fourth round (63.80).
Fresh off the back of his first individual international final appearance last night, Darragh Greene was back on the blocks for the 200m Breaststroke. Greene continued to impress this week, finishing first in his heat and fifth overall in 2:12.87, advancing to yet another European semi-final.
Greene’s National Centre (Dublin) teammate, Eoin Corby will also head back to the pool this evening. Corby stopped the clock on 2:13.74 to advance from the morning heat in tenth overall.
Uiseann Cooke narrowly missed out on a top sixteen finish by just 0.34 seconds, clocking 2:16.15 in seventeenth. A result that closed out the week for Cooke, his first senior international competition.
Max McCusker closed out his week in Belgrade with a 23rd place finish in the 100 Butterfly, clocking 52.54. McCusker will now head to Rome to compete at the Sette Colli Meet.
Following the race, McCusker said: “It was a good experience, it was never meant to be the main meet of the summer, I came here and gave it a bash and we move onto Sette Colli in a couple of days to get a bit of race experience in.”
Tonight, will see another strong Irish contingent heading to the blocks and diving platform for the evening session. Nathan Wiffen (800m Freestyle), Shane Ryan (100m Freestyle) and John Shortt (200m Backstroke) will all compete in their respective finals. While Hill, Cullen, Corby and Greene will look to move through the rounds once more. Ciara McGing will take to the 10m Platform Final, which is set to get underway at 4pm (IRL).
Day 3 Results
Men 100 Butterfly Max McCusker – 52.94 (23rd)
Women 50 Backstroke Danielle Hill – 27.98 (1st) Q, Lottie Cullen – 29.30 (16th) Q
Men 200 Breaststroke Darragh Greene – 2:12.87 (5th) Q, Eoin Corby – 2:13.74 (10th) Q, Uiseann Cooke – 2:16.15 (17th)
Women 10m Prelim Ciara McGing
Day 3 Evening Schedule
Women’s 10m Platform Ciara McGing (4pm)
Men 200 Backstroke Final John Shortt (5:40pm)
Men 100 Freestyle Final Shane Ryan (5:52pm)
Women 50 Backstroke SF Danielle Hill, Lottie Cullen (6:27pm)
Men 200 Breaststroke SF Darragh Greene, Eoin Corby (6:34pm)
Men 800 Freestyle Final Nathan Wiffen (7:07pm)
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