News

As temperatures increased in Belgrade, so too did Irish performances as five Irish athletes moved through the rounds in on day three of the European Aquatics Championships. Danielle Hill, Lottie Cullen, Darragh Greene and Eoin Corby will join Shane Ryan, John Shortt and Nathan Wiffen tonight for the evening finals, while Ciara McGing will compete in the 10m Platform Final.

Just three weeks after her showstopping performance at Olympic Trials in Dublin, Larne’s Danielle Hill was back in the pool to compete in the 50m Backstroke, her first appearance of the week in Belgrade. Hill blazed through one length of the water in 27.98 seconds to progress through the heat as fastest qualifier.

Lottie Cullen, who is competing at her first international meet, will join Hill this evening in the 50 Backstroke Semi-Final. Cullen stopped the clock on 29.30 to move into the semi-final in sixteenth place.

Moving across the city of Belgrade to the Serbian Sports Institute, Ciara McGing was on the 10m Platform to compete in the preliminary round. McGing qualified safely for the final in fifth place on 254.40, her highest score coming in the fourth round (63.80).

Fresh off the back of his first individual international final appearance last night, Darragh Greene was back on the blocks for the 200m Breaststroke. Greene continued to impress this week, finishing first in his heat and fifth overall in 2:12.87, advancing to yet another European semi-final.

Greene’s National Centre (Dublin) teammate, Eoin Corby will also head back to the pool this evening. Corby stopped the clock on 2:13.74 to advance from the morning heat in tenth overall.

Uiseann Cooke narrowly missed out on a top sixteen finish by just 0.34 seconds, clocking 2:16.15 in seventeenth. A result that closed out the week for Cooke, his first senior international competition.

Max McCusker closed out his week in Belgrade with a 23^rd place finish in the 100 Butterfly, clocking 52.54. McCusker will now head to Rome to compete at the Sette Colli Meet.

Tonight, will see another strong Irish contingent heading to the blocks and diving platform for the evening session. Nathan Wiffen (800m Freestyle), Shane Ryan (100m Freestyle) and John Shortt (200m Backstroke) will all compete in their respective finals. While Hill, Cullen, Corby and Greene will look to move through the rounds once more. Ciara McGing will take to the 10m Platform Final, which is set to get underway at 4pm (IRL).

Day 3 Results

• Men 100 Butterfly                       Max McCusker – 52.94 (23^rd)
• Women 50 Backstroke               Danielle Hill – 27.98 (1^st) Q,
  •                                               Lottie Cullen – 29.30 (16^th) Q
• Men 200 Breaststroke                Darragh Greene – 2:12.87 (5^th) Q,
  •                                               Eoin Corby – 2:13.74 (10^th) Q,
  •                                               Uiseann Cooke – 2:16.15 (17^th)

Diving

• Women 10m Prelim                  Ciara McGing

Day 3 Evening Schedule

• Women’s 10m Platform           Ciara McGing (4pm)
• Men 200 Backstroke Final       John Shortt (5:40pm)
• Men 100 Freestyle Final           Shane Ryan (5:52pm)
• Women 50 Backstroke SF       Danielle Hill, Lottie Cullen (6:27pm)
• Men 200 Breaststroke SF        Darragh Greene, Eoin Corby (6:34pm)
• Men 800 Freestyle Final           Nathan Wiffen (7:07pm)