It was a magic Monday at Paris La Defense for Irish swimmers as Daniel Wiffen, Ellen Walshe and Danielle Hill all advanced from their heats.
Walshe and Wiffen are now only the third and fourth Olympic Swimming Finalists for Ireland in the history of the Games, the latter the first male.
Ireland will have three swimmers in action on Monday evening with Mona McSharry also set to swim in the 100m Breaststroke Final after her Irish Record swim of 1:05.51 to qualify as second seed on Sunday.
Daniel Wiffen will be the top seed in Tuesday’s Final after an outstanding swim in the 800m Freestyle Heats. The reigning World Champion in the event swam his third fastest time ever clocking 7:41.53 to win his heat. Tunisia’s Ahmed Jaouadi was the closest to Wiffen in second place touching in 7:42.08.
A confident Wiffen spoke after the race ‘I mean it’s never comfortable, I just wasn’t at 100% that’s all I’ll say. I mean you didn’t see my legs coming in at the end so that’s where it is really, but was on good pace, happy with the morning swim, and you know a fast time as well, nearly as fast as my World Champs winning time so pretty happy.’
The Men’s 800m Final will take place on Tuesday at 7.02pm.
First out this morning, Ellen Walshe had an excellent swim in the 400m Individual Medley. Eighth after the Butterfly and Backstroke legs, the Templeogue swimmer stormed through the Breaststroke and Freestyle to secure her place in the Final in 4:39.97; fourth in her heat and seventh overall.
Speaking after the race Walshe said ‘It’s a bit of a shock. I saw fourth on the board and I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t know, it’s just a waiting game’. I hadn’t seen the results from the heats before and once I saw it, it was such a relief. The time left my head, which I wasn’t too over the moon with, but I have another chance to have a go at this tonight.’
She continued ‘I tried to take out the fly strong, I don’t think it was quite there this morning. I thought, ‘Oh no, we have a long way to go.’ The backstroke is probably my weakest stroke, I knew I had 200 to go, I could see the middle of the field and thought, ‘Okay, I just need to turn on the gears and fight.’ I had a strong finish, and I am delighted to go into the final tonight.’
The 400m Individual Medley Final takes place on Monday at 7.30pm.
Danielle Hill, competing at her second Olympic Games, is semi-final bound after a fourth-place finish in her heat of the 100m Backstroke in 1:00.40. The Larne swimmer had a nervy wait to confirm her place, eventually securing sixteenth place overall.
“What an incredible experience for a start, I had a French girl in my heat and the noise was deafening. They wouldn’t go silent at the start of the race, it’s something I’ve never experienced but can carry on now through the meet. I’m happy with how I put it together, the stuff that we’ve been working on is there and now tonight I’ve got to utilise what I’ve always had. I hope there’s another gear.’
The 100m Backstroke Semi-Final takes place on Monday at 7.57pm with the top eight progressing to Tuesday’s Final.
Results:
Women 400m IM Ellen Walshe 4:39.97 (7th)
Women 100m Backstroke Danielle Hill 1:00.40 (16th)
Men 800m Freestyle Daniel Wiffen 7:41.53 (1st)
Monday 29th July Schedule
Women 400m IM Ellen Walshe 19.30
Women 100m Backstroke Danielle Hill 19.57
Women 100m Breaststroke Final Mona McSharry 20.25
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