McCartney and Bailey qualify for finals in Slovakia; McSharry and Fannon progress in Italy
IRISH SWIMMERS HAD strong showings on the opening day of competition at the European Aquatics U23 Championships in Slovakia, and at the 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 (Irish time) Final.
Evan Bailey impressed in the 200m Freestyle as he touched second in his heat in 1:47.48, just behind reigning 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.
Advertisement
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 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.
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 12 finishes in the 50m Backstroke and 100m Butterfly respectively, while Ireland's Mixed Medley Relay of Lottie Cullen, Cassin, Corby and Godden were 11th overall in 3:55.47.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTÉ News
an hour ago
- RTÉ News
Gold for Ellie McCartney at European U23 Championship
Irish swimmer Ellie McCartney claimed the gold medal in the women's 200m individual medley event at the European Under-23 Championships in Slovakia. McCartney took gold in a time of 2:12.50 and was 1.22 seconds ahead of second-placed Bertille Cousan of France with Slovakia's Tamara Potocka claiming bronze. Sitting in third place after the the butterfly and backstroke legs of the race, McCartney powered to the front during her favoured breaststroke leg and was able to hold that lead in the final freestyle leg. The 20-year-old ensures that the title stays in Ireland after Ellen Walshe claimed victory in the inaugural edition of the race at these championships, winning in Dublin in 2023. "I'm definitely excited, I wasn't expecting it," McCartney said. "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 Irish Sun
an hour ago
- The Irish Sun
Fans all say the same thing in tribute to ‘breath of fresh air' John Giles after retiring from 30-year punditry career
FANS expressed their gratitude to John Giles after he announced his retirement from punditry. The Republic of Ireland legend, 84, Advertisement 2 John Giles has retired from punditry after 30-year career with RTE and Off The Ball Credit: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile 2 Fans paid tribute to a legend of Irish football Credit: PA:Press Association Prior to his time in radio , Giles was an acclaimed part of And in response to his retirement, fans flocked to Mark said: "Best of luck to John Giles and happy retirement. "Will be sadly missed by the OTB listeners, a great player and a great football pundit. Advertisement Read More on John Giles "His views on football were always a 'breath of fresh air'." Mairtin hailed: "John was a brilliant pundit… "He knew the game so well and was eager to explain simplify and give an understanding of the game to the viewer or listener. "John always called the game as it was and as he saw it. He really believed in the old traditional fundamental values of the game" Advertisement Most read in Football Exclusive Ronan declared: "An absolute gift from god John was" Jim Gray said: "Loved Giles as player and pundit. RTE viewers in stitches at John Giles' cheeky one-word answer to Patrick Kielty on The Late Late Show "Had the cheek to ring him for interview few years ago when Leeds sent a team to @SligoSuperCup. "When told it was underage football, he couldn't have been nicer,went out of his way to help. Advertisement "Definitely one of the good guys. Happy retirement, legend." "Thursday night football with John Giles" has been a staple of the evening Off The Ball show since inception in 2002. His final appearance was preceded by a touching and poignant tribute featuring the best bits of his broadcasting career, both in RTE and Off The Ball. He goes down as one of the most influential men in the history of Irish football with a Advertisement And speaking on OTB for the final time, Giles said: "I was really lucky. I fell into the television . Eamon [Dunphy] helped me a lot in that. "When you're doing the job I was trying to do, you have to watch all the matches. You can't make it up as you go along. "I think it got to the stage where I was getting a bit stale trying to watch as many matches as I could and it became hard work . "Football has never been hard work to me, I have always loved it but there are so matches. Advertisement "Even in the summer now, you see the teams over in America [for the Club World Cup]. "I have had a good run of it. I am 84, nearly 85. "I have enjoyed it. I loved playing. I fell into to the television, I had no intention of doing that when I was actually playing the football. "No complaints whatsoever." Advertisement Off the Ball are going to hold a night of celebration in his honour in Dublin 's Sugar Club on Thursday August 14.
Irish Independent
2 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Faith Kipyegon falls well short in attempt to become first woman to break four-minute mile barrier
Kipyegon, the Olympic 1,500-meter gold medalist from Kenya, ran in 4 minutes, 06.42 seconds at Stade Charléty in Paris on Thursday. Her time was better than her world record of 4:07.64 but won't be recognized by the international federation because the Nike-sponsored event dubbed 'Breaking4: Faith Kipyegon vs. the 4-Minute Mile' was unofficial. The 31-year-old Kipyegon looked exhausted as she reached the finish and fell on her back as she was surrounded by photographers. Her attempt took place on a balmy summer's evening with a temperature of 25°C and limited wind, in front of an audience of a few thousand people. She used a team of 13 elite pace setters made of 11 men and two women who were positioned in front and behind her to reduce drag. But Kipyegon appeared to struggle midway through the race and failed in her attempt to shave at least 7.65 seconds off her world record. To achieve the feat, Kipyegon would have needed to run each of her four laps an average of about two seconds faster. Among the guests in Paris were Carl Lewis and Kipyegon's fellow Kenyan runner, longtime friend and training partner Eliud Kipchoge. It was more than 71 years ago when British runner Roger Bannister became the first man to eclipse four minutes in 3:59.4. Kipyegon set the women's mile world record nearly two years ago during a Diamond League meet in Monaco. She won her third straight 1,500 Olympic title in Paris last August. A month before that, she broke her own 1,500 record on the same track where she ran on Thursday.
