Irish Olympian Ellen Walshe claimed a magnificent silver medal in the 400m Individual Medley at the 15th FINA World Short Course Swimming Championships in Abu Dhabi – Ireland’s second-ever medal at a World Championships and the first-ever in an Olympic event.
Taking place at the Etihad Arena, the Championships are world swimming’s finale of 2021 and the culmination of the short course (25m pool) season.
The Dublin swimmer, based at the University of Tennessee, where she is a teammate of Mona McSharry, beat a 27-year-old Irish Senior Record to qualify for the Final before knocking off another four seconds from that time to claim her first international senior medal in an impressive 4:26.52.
“It doesn’t feel real yet,” she said after the race. “I knew it was going to be a fast field. It’s just really nice to walk out for my family, friends and country. It feels great to get on the podium, I haven’t been there in quite a while. Tessa [Cieplucha] who won it is a teammate of mine in Tennessee, so it’s really nice that I get to stand on the podium with her later today.”
Earlier Olympic finalist Mona McSharry became Ireland’s second finalist at these Championships when breaking her own Irish Senior Record in the 50m Breaststroke Semi-Finals – the fourth Irish Senior Record claimed in what is only Day 1 of the Championships.
McSharry swam 29.65 and will go into the Final on Friday ranked third. She has not won a World senior medal before, but did win a Bronze Medal at the LEN European Short Course Swimming Championships in 2019.
Her final will take place at 14:42.
We caught up with Mona McSharry prior to her flying out to Abu Dhabi and asked about the Olympics Experience, what Christmas will be like for her and what the next few years hold in store…
“A powerful and influential network of information and collaboration”
Download our latest membership brochure here.
Sport for Business Partners
