It was a week laden with medals and final appearances for Ireland across swimming and diving at the European Aquatics Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.
The pool medals were Ireland’s first at a senior European Championships (50m) since 2018, and the first-ever in diving at this meet.
Ireland will return home with three medals across swimming and diving (one gold, one silver and one bronze) delivered by Danielle Hill (50m and 100m Backstroke) and Clare Cryan (3m Springboard).
Across swimming and diving, there were sixteen finals and nine semi-finals, as well as two new Irish Records.
Saturday’s weather threw Nathan Wiffen’s schedule into disarray when he and his competitors were asked to stand down from the blocks before the 1500m Freestyle Final due to lightning overhead. On Sunday, though, Wiffen showed no sign of letting that affect his performance as he led the pack out in the opening laps with a fantastic display in Sunday’s final. Wiffen stopped the clock at 15:10.64 to finish fourth in Europe.
The Loughborough swimmer closed out his week with two European final appearances in what was just his second senior international meet.
“I was actually quite surprised as I was leading for most of the race, I think it caught up to me as I felt it, he said after the race.
“I’m happy, I’ve equalled my time in the heats, I’m very happy with my second international. Just another year of training, and I’ll probably be beating those guys out there.”
Shane Ryan was back in the pool following his scintillating performance in the 50 Freestyle on Saturday where he brought down the Irish Senior Record to 21.82. Ryan was in and out of the water in 22.17 to finish eighth in Europe.
“A team of 20 athletes travelled to Belgrade, a team comprising athletes with considerable international senior experience and athletes beginning their senior journey,” said Andrew Reid, Swim Ireland’s Head of Performance Pathways and Operations, who was Team Leader for Belgrade.
“They all brought tremendous energy to the team, whether it was in the team prep area or in the stands. They handled any challenges that were thrown at them and delivered when it mattered. Danielle’s gold and silver medals and Clare’s bronze medal were the icing on the cake for a team that delivered two Irish Senior Records, three podiums, 15 top eight and 10 top 16 Performances. Congratulations to all the athletes and their coaches.”
Nathan’s brother, Paris-qualified Daniel Wiffen and Ellen Walshe, closed out their racing preparations ahead of the Paris Olympic Games with a third and fourth-place finish at the Sette Colli Meet in Rome on Sunday.
Wiffen, just off a three-week training camp and competing in his fourth race in three days, took bronze in the 1500m Freestyle Final in 14:53.39.
Speaking after the race, the Loughborough swimmer said, ‘I’m happy with the time. It is an in-season best, so I can’t ask for more than that. I’m happy I came third. I died a bit at the end, but I’m happy with the race plan, and it actually felt pretty good.’
Following her Irish Record in the 400m Individual Medley on Saturday, Ellen Walshe posted her second fastest time ever in the 200m Medley on Sunday to finish fourth in the A Final in 2:11.77.
“It’s nice to be back down to 2:11; coming into Paris, it’s a nice place to be,” she said.
“It would have been good to be quicker this morning because it’s going to be quick to get into the semi-final in Paris, but going out there tonight, it was a little bit windy I think, so 2:11 it’s a nice job. I think the 400m last night was definitely kind of a surprise to get my hand on the wall, and I think feeding off that you do have a lot of fatigue in the body, I won’t have that at the Olympics; I have four days between both races so hopefully I’ll be able to come back stronger in the 200 IM heat there.”
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