Ireland’s swimmers impressed on the third morning of racing at the World Short Course Swimming Championships in Budapest as Ellen Walshe, Shane Ryan and Danielle Hill all progressed from heats to semi-finals. There was also another Irish record for Walshe, while Jack Cassin equalled the 200m butterfly Irish record.
Templeogue’s Walshe continued her record-breaking form adding a fifth Irish record over the past three days in the 100m individual medley. The 23-year-old, who had set the standard at 59.30 in November hacked another .45 of a second off to touch second in her heat in 58.85. The time sees her advance to the semi-final eighth overall.
Speaking after the race Walshe said “I’m delighted with that, as we were all saying in the call room, it is just such a fun one, you don’t have time to think about it, it just changes so quickly, so yeah, it was a bit of fun, it’s not a main event or anything, a bit of speed”.
On tonight’s semi-final she added “I’m used to racing a longer distance in the IM, so it’s a bit more effort coming into that, it felt like it was forcing it so much, so hopefully tonight I can be a bit more relaxed and just go out there and enjoy it.”
Shane Ryan also continued his good form, as one of only three swimmers under 23 seconds in the 50m backstroke heats, clocking 22.98. The 30-year-old was second in his heat and goes into Thursday evening’s semi-final as third seed.
In the Women’s 50m backstroke heats Danielle Hill impressed with a third-place finish in her heat in 26.67, just off her Irish record of 26.33. The Larne swimmer goes into the semi-final in 13th place overall.
Jack Cassin made his World Championships debut for Ireland by equalling Brendan Hyland’s 2018 Irish record of 1:53.19 in the 200m butterfly. It was a two-second personal best for the 20-year-old. Cassin was fourth in his heat and 16th overall. Cassin returns for the 400m individual medley on Saturday.
Nathan Wiffen was the final Irish swimmer in action on Thursday morning, taking to the blocks for the 400m freestyle. The Loughborough swimmer swam his second-best time in the event coming home in 3:44.05, just off his best time of 3:43.69. The time saw Wiffen fifth in his heat. Wiffen is back in action on Saturday for the 800m Freestyle.
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