Ellen Walshe just misses out on third final appearance as Ireland round off successful World Aquatics Championships
'I probably didn't expect it to be so fast," said the Templeogue swimmer afterwards. 'Even when I touched the wall, I was surprised at my time, never mind coming in fifth. I'll definitely take it on day eight, I've had many swims in my system I told the team this morning that I'd be delighted with 4:41, so to see a 4:38 on the board, I was pretty surprised.'
Reflecting on her Championships, Walshe added: 'I'm delighted, I've had a quite successful worlds, I've made two finals, and I think to come ninth today, I'll take it. There's definitely loads of learnings to make as well.'
On the final day of competition, Ireland's men's 4x100m medley relay team — all first-timers at senior international level — took to the pool, finishing in a time of 3:37.56. The team of John Shortt, Eoin Corby, Jack Cassin and Evan Bailey, all based at the National Centre in Limerick, gained valuable experience at the elite level.
Shortt led off with a 54.88 backstroke leg and acknowledged the physical toll of the meet: 'It's the end of a long week, especially coming off the back of European Juniors. It's not my best time, but I'm just happy to be out there with the lads.'
Corby, who swam the breaststroke leg in 1:01.09, added: 'It was good craic. Just getting out there with the boys and having fun, it's something we can build on.'
Cassin produced a strong butterfly leg in 52.47, improving on his individual PB of 52.84 from earlier in the week: 'It's been a long week, so I'm really happy. Relays are different with more of a team buzz and that really helped me get out of the individual headspace.'
Bailey anchored the team with a 49.02 freestyle split, relishing the relay debut: 'It's really nice to see like a refresh on the team, there are four new guys coming up and like it's only up from here. If it's our main focus for the 4x100 medley in the future, we can definitely go a lot faster and work on that in the future. Honestly, I've always wanted to anchor a relay for Ireland, so it was an amazing feeling and I'm really happy with it.'
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