Ellen Walshe and Danielle Hill have comfortably qualified for the semi-finals of the 200m Butterfly and 50m Backstroke respectively on the fourth day of racing of the World Aquatics Championships at the Singapore Sports Hub.
Walshe, who only added the 200m Butterfly back to her roster earlier this year after a five-year gap, swam the third fastest time of her career in this morning’s heats coming home in 2:09.15, placing second in her heat and advancing seventh overall.
The Templeogue swimmer holds the Irish Record in the event at 2:08.42 from March of this year.
Hill was the first Irish swimmer off the blocks on Wednesday morning. The Larne swimmer clocked 27.84, exactly on her season’s best, to win the first seeded heat and secure a semi-final place in tenth overall.
The double Olympian, who is the current European Champion in the event, holds the Irish Record at 27.64 from 2024.
Hill spoke after the race saying, “I’m buzzing. I know I might not sound or look it, but I think after Monday (100m Backstroke Heats) I was a little bit disappointed in myself. But, I took that swim forward and I looked at it and the shoulder wasn’t sore and so all I had to take was confidence from the event, and bring it into this morning, and again, worked with the team throughout the last 24 hours to make sure that I was behind that block again and stood up this time and done the right job.”
Hill’s semi-final will take place at 12.38 with Walshe competing at 13.16. Daniel Wiffen will be first up, swimming the 800m Freestyle Final, where he will look to defend his 2024 World Championship title, at 12.02 (IRL).
Also, in action on Thursday, Evan Bailey, who equalled the Irish Record and progressed to the Semi-Finals of the 200m Freestyle earlier in the week, was back for the 100m Freestyle. Bailey touched second in his heat in 49.52, just outside his best time of 49.15.
The 100m Freestyle was Bailey’s final individual event of the meet, the National Centre Limerick swimmer will be back however on Friday for the Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay.
Paris Olympic Games Finalist Ellen Walshe starred on night four of racing in Singapore with a new Irish Record in the 200m Butterfly to secure a place in Thursday’s Final, while Daniel Wiffen placed eighth in the 800m Freestyle Final.
Entering the semi-finals as the seventh seed in 2:09.15, Walshe smashed through her own Irish Record of 2:08.42 to place third in the second semi-final, and progresses to the Final ranked in fourth.
Commenting on the race, the 24-year-old said, “I’m delighted. It was an event I really didn’t want to take back up, and I think just to see how far I can get it, I have to be happy as a junior level I really struggled to kind of move it on, but now I can see a lot of progress and the back ends definitely there.
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow to see if I can kind of be a little bit better through the front speed a bit, but yeah, I’m in against some really big names, so it’s going to be exciting.”
Australia’s Elizabth Dekkers will be the top seed for the 12:02 (IRL) Final in 2:06.13.
In the 800m Freestyle Daniel Wiffen was eighth in 7:58.56. Exactly one year to the day he was crowned Olympic Champion in the event, the 24-year-old lead for the first 350 metres, and then struggling with stomach pain, fell back through the field to finish in 7:58.56.
Speaking after the race Wiffen said, “Obviously not my best showing, from last year winning the Olympics to coming eighth in the final. But honestly, I’m happy to be in the final, still progressing, still getting those nerves up. You know, that’s what sports about, trying to get myself uncomfortable, and I was definitely uncomfortable in that race. I’m pretty sure I was leading at one point and then I got to 400m and then just kind of stomach was in pieces, so not my best showing, but, you know, I’m happy to be in the final, I’m happy to represent Ireland again in a final.”
In the 50m Backstroke Semi-Final Danielle Hill swam faster than her morning time of 27.84, touching seventh in her heat in a season’s best 27.71. Hill was just seven hundredths of a second outside her Irish Record of 27.64 to rank twelfth overall.
The Larne swimmer spoke after the race, “I don’t know, very mixed emotions. I think, looking at it, it is fast. I suppose, it’s now become an Olympic event, so I suppose a few more people are a little bit more switched on. So, of course I want to be in that final, but, I’ve been around that time now for a couple of years, so there’s something there that we’ve got to look at and change in order to get that improvement. So, all in all disappointed obviously not to make that final, but massive learning, and last week I wasn’t even swimming 25 metres of backstroke and I’ve done two races now so I’m happy.”
Five Irish swimmers and one diver will be in action on Thursday morning in Singapore, the fifth day of the World Aquatics Championships.
Hill is back for the 100m Freestyle Heats. John Shortt returns for his main event, the 200m Backstroke and Mona McSharry and Ellie McCartney are back on the blocks for the 200m Breaststroke, as is Eoin Corby.
In Diving, Jake Passmore gets his Worlds campaign underway in the 3M Springboard preliminaries. With sixty-six divers entered, the competition will split into two preliminary rounds. Passmore goes in preliminary A and will need to wait until the end of preliminary B to see if he has made the top eighteen and has a place in the semi-final.
| Women 50m Backstroke | Danielle Hill | 27.84 (10th) | SF 27.71 (12th) |
| Men 100m Freestyle | Evan Bailey | 49.52 (37th) | |
| Women 200m Butterfly | Ellen Walshe | 2:09.15 (7th) | SF 2:07.48 (4th) ISR |
| Men 800m Freestyle | Daniel Wiffen | 7:46.36 (8th) | F 7:58.56 (8th) |
