Ireland’s national team swimmers got their first racing of 2026 underway at the Luxembourg Euro Meet over the weekend and took a haul of medals from the prestigious meet that featured athletes from across Europe, while the first Irish record of the year was set by Matthew Hamilton.
John Shortt, a European SC Champion from December, started his long course season with two golds and a bronze medal. The National Centre Limerick swimmer swam an impressive Meet Record of 1:57.84 in the 200m Backstroke, breaking Yohann Ndoye-Brouard’s (France) 2024 record of 1:58.03. Shortt was the only swimmer under the two-minute mark in the Final.
On Friday, the 18-year-old nabbed 100m Backstroke gold in 54.48 and, also took bronze in the 50m Backstroke in 25.52.
Grace Davison won Ireland’s first medal of the weekend when she touched for gold in the 100m Backstroke in 1:02.55. Davison followed that up with a silver medal in the 100m Freestyle in 55.06.
Ellie McCartney won her gold in the 200m Breaststroke, clocking 2:26.14 and was sixth in the 100m Breaststroke Final in 1:08.95.
Jack Cassin won Ireland’s fifth gold of the weekend in the 200m IM in 2:02.68, taking the win by .09 of a second ahead of Luxembourg’s Finn Kemp. Cassin also had appearances in A Finals of the 100m (53.90) and 200m Butterfly (2:00.43) where he was eighth and sixth respectively.
Matthew Hamilton downed Ireland’s first Irish Record of the year in the heats of the 50m Butterfly. The 18-year-old broke Evan Bailey’s 2024 record of 24.49 in 24.42.
Next up for this group of Irish swimmers will be the McCullagh International in Dublin from February 20th – 22nd.
Meanwhile, Ellen Walshe will get her long course season underway this weekend as she travels for the Dubai Open Swimming Championships from February 6th – 8th.
