Tom Fannon finally made his first appearance in Singapore, progressing to the 50m Freestyle Semi-Final, on day six of the World Aquatics Championships. Fannon will join Ellie McCartney, who swims the 200m Breaststroke Final, in action in this afternoon’s finals session.
The National Centre Dublin swimmer, a semi-finalist at the Olympic Games, was fifth in his heat and advances fourteenth overall in 21.87 seconds, just outside his Irish Record 21.74 set during that semi-final in Paris.
In the 100m Butterfly, Jack Cassin continued his good form with a lifetime best swim of 52.84, going under 53 seconds for the first time to finish second in his heat. The National Centre Limerick swimmer, who also swam a personal best in the 200m Butterfly earlier this week, had a previous best in the 100m of 53.05 from the European U23 Championships in June.
Ireland’s first relay of the week comprised of four National Centre Limerick swimmers, all making senior international debuts on a relay. 200m Freestyle semi-finalist Evan Bailey, Cormac Rynn, Jack Cassin and 200m Backstroke semi-finalist John Shortt combined for a time of 7:16.70 in the Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay.
Bailey led off in 1:47.02, Cormac Rynn, clocked 1:49.51, while Cassin and Shortt touched in 1:50.07 and 1:50.10 to place the team fourteenth overall.
Bailey, who swam his second fastest time ever in the lead off spoke after the race, “I felt really strong with that, so even though it’s not my fastest swim, it’s my second fastest time ever, so I’m really happy with that. I felt really good to swim with the boys as well, it’s a lot more fun, it’s definitely the most enjoyable race I’ve done here so far, and it’s only up from here with the 4x200m, so at NCL just all of us are going to push that on a bit more, and hopefully see where we can go, push it on a lot more, be the best we can be.”
Ellie McCartney took her place amongst the World’s best with a seventh-place finish in the 200m Breaststroke Final while Tom Fannon came agonisingly close to making the 50m Freestyle Final at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore on Friday.
McCartney, who swam a lifetime best 2:23.79 in Thursday’s Semi-Final of the 200m Breaststroke, clocked 2:25.22, matching her heat swim and fifth fastest time ever, to close out her first World Championships (50m). The 20-year-old, who swims at National Centre Limerick, came into the meet ranked eighteenth and will take huge confidence from making the final on her debut.
The Enniskillen woman spoke after the race, saying “It’s an incredible experience, I didn’t have high expectations coming into the final, at the start of this year all I wanted to do is qualify for the World Champs, so, constantly this year, as the season progressed, we had to keep on moving that target, and I never thought it would be a final, but we’ re here now, I have now swum a World Long Course final, it’s something not many people have done.
“I mean tonight’s swim may not have been the fastest I’ve ever been, but I came into this meet seeded eighteenth and I finished seventh, so, progression is what it is, and just moving forward through each of the rounds and I’ll take a learning from this time and hopefully apply it to future competitions.”
Tom Fannon was just four hundredths of a second from making the 50m Freestyle Final as he clocked 21.81 in the Semi-Final. The National Centre Dublin swimmer, who holds the Irish Record in the event at 21.74 from the Paris 2024 Semi-Final, was faster than his heat swim of 21.87 to place seventh in his Semi-Final and twelfth overall.
The eighth and last place in the final will require a swim off with two swimmers clocking 21.77 while Australia’s Cameron McEvoy progresses as the fastest seed in 21.30.
Speaking after the race Fannon said, “I’m obviously annoyed, I think any athlete would be. If I was [to do it] again, like, if I just didn’t make certain mistakes, then I would be back in the final. I think, no, I don’t even think, I know that I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been, I’m swimming the fastest I’ve ever been, so, it’s just trying to put that all together. Sometimes it’s just not your day. If I did that again tomorrow, it would be quicker. So, like, it’s just bittersweet.”
On Saturday, the penultimate day of racing in Singapore, 50m Backstroke Semi-Finalist Danielle Hill returns for the 50m Freestyle, 100m Breaststroke semi-finalist Mona McSharry is back for the 50m Breaststroke and Shane Ryan, who competed in the 50m Butterfly on the opening day of racing goes in the 50m Backstroke.
| Men 100m Butterfly | Jack Cassin | 52.84 (34th) | |
| Men 50m Freestyle | Tom Fannon | 21.87 (14th) | SF 21.81 (12th) |
| Men 4x200m Freestyle Relay | Ireland (Evan Bailey, Cormac Rynn,
Jack Cassin, John Shortt) |
7:16.70 (14th) | |
| Women 200m Breaststroke | Ellie McCartney | SF 2:23.79 (6th) | F 2:25.22 (7th) |
