At the European Aquatics Championships in Belgrade, where temperatures are on the rise, our Irish swimmers fared quite well. The Irish swimming team, which includes Danielle Hill, Lottie Cullen, Darragh Greene, Eoin Corby, Shane Ryan, John Shortt and Nathan Wiffen, are prepared for the semi-finals and finals on Wednesday night. Ciara McGing participates in the 10-metre platform final.
Hill, a qualified Paris Olympic swimmer, demonstrated her prowess in the pool barely three weeks after her breathtaking Olympic Trials performance in Dublin. She competed in the 50m backstroke and topped the heats with a time of 27.98 seconds.
After her morning swim, Hill commented, “I am very pleased. It’s always a relief to get the first race out of the way. Given that only three weeks have passed since the trials, it provides a great indicator of where I stand currently.” For her Paris preparation, she elucidated, “This helped me fine-tune everything before moving to Paris. Europeans was the ideal opportunity to get practice across all the rounds. It’s about improving minor aspects, not just within, but also outside the pool.”
Meanwhile, Cullen, participating in her maiden international meet, will join Hill in the 50 backstroke semi-finals on Wednesday evening. She secured her spot with a timing of 29.30 seconds. She feels quite comfortable, strong, and pleased to return for the evening event, stating that a solitary length swim was favourable over multiple lengths due to an already busy schedule.
Another significant performance was McGing’s, who secured a fifth-place in the final with a score of 254.40, with her top score of 63.80 coming in the fourth round.
Darragh Greene, who recently made his first appearance in an individual international final, did not fail to amaze in his 200m breaststroke race. He topped his heat and overall finished fifth with a time of 2:12.87, which saw him advance to another European semi-final.
Corby, who is a teammate of Greene at the National Centre Dublin, is also set to return to the swimming pool on Wednesday night. His place in the evening heats was secured after clocking a commendable 2:13.74 in the morning heat, ranking him 10th overall. Uiseann Cooke, participating in his first senior international tournament, finished just shy of a top 16 position, with a time of 2:16.15 placing him 17th, missing out by only 0.34 seconds.
Belgrade saw Max McCusker wrap up his week with a 23rd place victory in the 100m butterfly event, recording a time of 52.54. McCusker’s next competition will be the Sette Colli Meet in Rome. Following his race, McCusker reflected on the experience positively. He remarked that the meet at Belgrade was never meant to be the highlight of the summer. He gave it his best shot and now, his attention shifts to the Sette Colli meet in the coming days, in pursuit of gaining more competitive experience.
Wednesday evening will witness an impressive line-up of Irish swimmers, including Wiffen (800m freestyle), Ryan (100m freestyle), and Shortt (200m backstroke), who will all compete in their respective final races. Hill, Cullen, Corby, and Greene will aim for a finals qualification, whereas the 10m platform final event will see McGing as the first to compete, starting at 4pm, as per Irish local time.
On the third day of events, the Irish men’s results were as follows: Men – 100 butterfly: Max McCusker 52.94 (23rd). For the 200 breaststroke: Darragh Greene ranked fifth with a timing of 2:12.87 and Eoin Corby reached a close tenth with 2:13.74, whilst Uiseann Cooke held the 17th spot with 2:16.15. In the women’s segment, the 50 backstroke was lead by Danielle Hill with a timing of 27.98 to secure first place, and Lottie Cullen clocked in 16th with 29.30. Ciara McGing placed fifth in the 10m platform event with a score of 254.40.
The women’s 10m platform will witness a performance from Ciara McGing at 4.0. The men’s 200m backstroke final will take place at 5.40 with John Shortt competing. The 100m freestyle final for men will see Shane Ryan in action at 5.52. The female contestants of the 50m backstroke semi-final include Danielle Hill and Lottie Cullen which will be at 6.27. As for the men’s 200m breaststroke semi-final at 6.34, Darragh Greene and Eoin Corby will be participating. The event of the day will be concluded with the men’s 800m freestyle final featuring Nathan Wiffen at 7.07.