McCartney Completes Medal Set with Silver in Slovakia; Walshe and McSharry Continue Medal Form in Italy
Ellie McCartney made it a full set of medals with a sensational silver in the 200m Breaststroke at the European U23 Championships, Ellen Walshe comes away from Rome also with a full set, while Mona McSharry claimed a second silver.
In Samorin, Slovakia, McCartney added the Breaststroke silver to gold in the 200m Individual Medley and bronze in the 100m Breaststroke on the final day of racing.
A controlled race from the National Centre Limerick swimmer saw her third after 100m behind Denmark’s Clara Rybek-Anderson and Lithuania’s Kotryna Teterekova, before mounting her come back, out splitting both swimmers ahead of her in the second 100 metres, but just not enough time to catch 2024 European silver medallist in the event Rybek-Anderson who got the touch ahead of McCartney in 2:23.89, just .13 ahead of a personal best from the Enniskillen woman in 2:24.02. Teterekova settled for third in 2:24.86.
Speaking after the race McCartney said ‘I’m happy with how the past few days have panned out, in the general scale of things this is only one step forward to the World Championships in Singapore. Its bittersweet being so close to getting gold again, but to get a pb, I know I put my best foot forward and my best performance out there, and to walk away a European U23 Champion is more than I could have dreamed of. I’ve achieved my goals that I wanted to while I was here and anything else was a bonus, so I’m walking away with my head held high.’
In Rome, Ellen Walshe doubled up with a silver and bronze medal on the last night of racing. Having won gold in the 400m Individual Medley on Friday, the Templeogue swimmer added silver in the 200m Butterfly in 2:09.59 and bronze in the 200m Individual Medley in 2:11.80 to her haul.
For McSharry, it was a second silver medal, having won the first in the 100m Breaststroke on Thursday, she clocked 2:25.05 for her second, this time in the 200m Breaststroke.
Attention for McCartney, McSharry and Walshe now turns to the World Aquatics Championships starting on the 27th of July in Singapore.
Interim Swim Ireland Performance Director Andy Reid spoke after this evening’s finals ‘Solid performances across both the European Aquatics U23 Championships and Setti Colli meets, with our athletes bringing home nine medals and reaching thirteen more finals. For those using these meets as a stepping stone toward the World Aquatics Championships or World University Games, it’s a strong indicator that preparations are on track and they are moving in the right direction.’
The European U23 Team will arrive back to Dublin Airport on Sunday at 1.45pm.
Next up for Irish swimmers is the European Junior Championships, taking place in Samorin, Slovakia, at the same venue as the European U23 Championships. The competition will run from Tuesday 1st to Sunday 6th July with sixteen Irish swimmers selected. The team include 2024 European Junior Champion in the 200m Backstroke and Silver medallist in the 100m Backstroke John Shortt, and bronze medallist in the 100m Freestyle from the last edition Paris 2024 Olympian Grace Davison. Shortt is also qualified for the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.
Day 3 Heats Results European U23 Championships
Women 200m Breaststroke Ellie McCartney 2:28.07 (1st) F 2:24.02 (2nd)
Men 100m Backstroke Brandon Biss 58.00 (32nd)
Men 100m Freestyle Cormac Rynn 51.14 (38th)
Evan Bailey 49.75 (15th)
Oisin Tebite 51.14 (38th)
Women 200m Backstroke Lottie Cullen 2:16.83 (13th)
Maria Godden 2:17.01 (14th)
Men 100m Breaststroke Eoin Corby 1:01.75 (9th)
Day 3 Heats Results Sette Colli
Women 200m Butterfly Ellen Walshe 2:12.16 (6th) F 2:09.59 (2nd)
Women 200m Breaststroke Mona McSharry 2:25.93 (1st) F 2:25.05 (2nd)
Women 200m Individual Medley Ellen Walshe 2:14.46 (3rd) F 2:11.80 (3rd)
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