Irish swimmers had strong showings on the opening day of competition at the European Aquatics U23 Championships in Slovakia and Sette Colli International in Rome with Ellie McCartney, Evan Bailey, Mona McSharry and Tom Fannon all advancing to finals.
McCartney is the fastest qualifier into the 200m Individual Medley Final at the U23 Championships having won her heat in 2:15.02 ahead of France’s Bertille Cousson (2:15.25) and Italy’s Giada Alzetta (2:15.74). The National Centre Limerick swimmer will take the centre lane for this evening’s 6.27pm (IRL) Final.
Evan Bailey impressed in the 200m Freestyle as he touched second in his heat in 1:47.48, just behind Paris Olympic Champion in the event David Popovici of Romania (1:46.84). The Wexford man, who trains at National Centre Limerick, progresses fourth overall to the final at 5.24pm (IRL).
In Rome, Olympic bronze medallist Mona McSharry won her 100m Breaststroke heat in 1:07.05 and qualifies second overall for the final at 6.04pm (IRL) just behind Great Britain’s Angharad Evans (1:06.83).
Olympic semi-finalist Tom Fannon was second in his heat of the 50m Freestyle clocking 22.21 behind Paris silver medallist Ben Proud, the fastest seed into the final, in 21.90. Fannon progresses fourth overall with the final taking to the blocks at 6.44pm (IRL).
Olympic finalist Ellen Walshe got the morning underway in Rome in the heats of the 200m Freestyle coming home in 2:01.52. The Templeogue swimmer will be back in action on Friday in the 400m Individual Medley.
Back in Slovakia, Eoin Corby agonisingly missed out on the 50m Breaststroke Final after a swim-off for the final place. Corby, of National Centre Limerick, and Ukraine’s Maksym Ovchinnikov had both touched in 28 seconds and eighth overall in the heats requiring a swim-off for the final place. With Corby having swam with the Ireland 4x100m Mixed Medley Relay in between races, it was the Ukrainian who had the fresher legs and got the touch in the swim-off 27.99 to 28.14.
Also, in action on Thursday morning, Brandon Biss got the Championships underway for Ireland in the 200m Backstroke, clocking 2:03.36. Cormac Rynn touched in 1:47.77 in the 200m Freestyle, his third fastest time ever in the event. Maria Godden (29.39) and Jack Cassin (53.05) had top twelve finishes in the 50m Backstroke and 100m Butterfly respectively, while Ireland’s Mixed Medley Relay of Lottie Cullen, Cassin, Corby and Godden were eleventh overall in 3:55.47.
Ellie McCartney has won a gold medal and is Ireland’s newest European U23 Champion joining 2023 Champions Mona McSharry, Ellen Walshe and Daniel Wiffen in the list of Irish winners.
McCartney’s win also makes it back-to-back Irish Champions in the 200m Individual Medley at the event, Walshe having won at the inaugural edition in Dublin in 2023.
Third after the Butterfly and Backstroke legs, 20-year-old McCartney surged through her favoured Breaststroke leg in 37.41 to hold an almost two second lead going into the Freestyle leg, a lead she never relinquished, winning by 1.22 seconds in 2:12.50 over silver medallist Bertille Cousson (2:13.72) of France.
A delighted McCartney said, “I’m definitely excited, I wasn’t expecting it, coming in (to the final) I knew I was fastest seed but I knew the other girls had faster times in them, their PBs were quite a bit faster than mine, so you just get in, race who’s there on the day and get your hand to the wall first and to get my hand on the wall first is really exciting. Not only that, but for Irish swimming, every time this has been raced at U23s it’s been Irish girls who won it, so exciting for the future ahead to see who we can pass the baton on to win the 200m IM next.”
The swim saw the National Centre Limerick swimmer, coached by John Szaranek, obliterate her personal best of 2:14.09 in the event, she is now Ireland’s second fastest 200m Individual Medley female ever behind Walshe, and the time will also see her considered to swim it at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, as she dipped under the qualification time of 2:12.83. The Enniskillen native is already qualified for the Championships in the 200m Breaststroke.
McCartney will be back in action on Friday morning in the heats of the 100m Breaststroke.
In Rome, Mona McSharry swam a seasons’ best 1:06.86 in the 100m Breaststroke Final to claim a silver medal. McSharry took one hundredth of a second off her time of 1:06.87 from the Irish Open Final in April to claim Ireland’s first medal of the meet. Great Britain’s Angharad Evans took gold in 1:06.33.
In the Men’s 50m Freestyle Final, Tom Fannon bettered his heat time of 22.21 to finish sixth overall in 22.18.
McSharry returns to the pool on Friday for the 50m Breaststroke heats, with Ellen Walshe also in action in Rome in the 400m Individual Medley.
Evan Bailey, competing in the 200m Freestyle Final in Slovakia, clocked 1:47.45, just faster than his heat swim of 1:47.48, to finish in fifth place. Olympic 200m Freestyle Champion David Popovici won gold in the event in a world leading time for 2025 of 1:43.64, three seconds clear of the silver medallist Petar Mitsin of Bulgaria in 1:46.48.
Bailey returns to the pool on Friday for the heats of the 50m Freestyle with all nine of the Ireland team in action in the heats; Cormac Rynn takes on the 400m Freestyle, Brandon Biss the 50m Backstroke, Oisin Tebite the 50m Freestyle, Lottie Cullen and Maria Godden the 100m Backstroke, Eoin Corby the 200m Breaststroke and Jack Cassin the 200m Butterfly.
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