McCartney, Cassin, Corby and Rynn secure European U23 finals in Slovakia
NEWLY CROWNED EUROPEAN U23 Champion Ellie McCartney progressed to another final along with Jack Cassin, Eoin Corby and Cormac Rynn in Slovakia on Friday morning, while Ellen Walshe and Mona McSharry will have second swims following their morning performances in Rome.
At the European U23 Championships, McCartney, who took 200m Individual Medley gold last night, returned to the pool this morning for the 100m Breaststroke heats, clocking 1:08.70 to advance to this evening's final (5:13pm) in fifth place overall.
The National Centre Limerick (NCL) swimmer has a personal best of 1:06.97 from the Irish Open in April this year.
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Jack Cassin, meanwhile, who is also an NCL swimmer, produced a career-best performance in the 200m Butterfly heats. The 21-year-old Cork man touched in 1:57.69 to place second in his heat and second overall, chipping more than a second off his previous best of 1:58.71.
A dream session for John Szaranek's NCL swimmers continued when Eoin Corby won his 200m Breaststroke heat with a breathtaking finish, turning at the last 50m in third place to touch first in 2:12.77. The Limerick man, who has a PB of 2:10.50 from 2021, will be the third seed in Friday evening's final.
Cormac Rynn, 19, then became the fourth NCL competitor to book a final berth, finishing just outside his best of 3:53.70 in the 400m Freestyle, touching in 3:54.10 and securing the eighth and final place in the decider.
At the Sette Colli meet in Rome, Ellen Walshe cruised into the 400m Individual Medley Final, placing fourth in her heat and sixth overall in 3:50.32.
In the 50m Breaststroke Heats, Mona McSharry, silver medallist in the 100m Breaststroke on Thursday, finished ninth in 31.20 and will compete in the B Final in the Italian capital.
Back at the European U23s in Slovakia, then, Maria Godden narrowly missed out on the 100m Backstroke final, touching ninth overall in 1:02.57.
Swimming in the same event, Lottie Cullen clocked 1:02.86.
200m Freestyle Finalist Evan Bailey returned to the pool for the 50m Freestyle, where just one hundredth of a second separated him and Ireland team-mate Oisin Tebite in 23.18 and 23.17 respectively.
Brandon Biss rounded out the morning for Ireland in the 50m Backstroke, clocking 27.17.
Day 2, Finals Schedule, European U23 Championships
Women 100m Breaststroke: Ellie McCartney, 5.13pm
Ellie McCartney, 5.13pm Men 400m Freestyle: Cormac Rynn, 5.43pm
Cormac Rynn, 5.43pm Men 200m Breaststroke: Eoin Corby, 6.04pm
Eoin Corby, 6.04pm Men 200m Butterfly: Jack Cassin, 6.25pm
Day 2, Finals Schedule, Sette Colli
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