Ellen Walshe won her fifth national title of the week in winning the women’s 200m individual medley on the final day of the Irish Open Swimming Championships in Bangor.
The Templeogue swimmer finished in 2:13.51 ahead of Ellie McCartney, a shade behind in 2:13.57, both meeting the qualification time for this summer’s European Championships. Maren Clayton Byrne took the bronze in 2:19.33.
The result added to Walshe’s wins in the 400m freestyle and IM events, as well as the 100m and 200m butterfly.
Olympic gold medallist Daniel Wiffen added a third national title to his haul, adding the 800m freestyle to his earlier wins in the 400m and 1,500m distances in the stroke, finishing well ahead of the field in 7:58.08. Wiffen’s twin brother Nathan was second in 8:12.68, Liam Custer third in 8:17.36.
RM Block
Jack Cassin also set a new Irish record on his way to winning the 200m IM for his third title of the meet. The National Centre Limerick swimmer was first to hit the wall in 2:01.00, lowering Brendan Hyland’s record of 2:01.52 which has stood since 2019.
“I’m quite ecstatic,” said Cassin of the win. “I don’t train a lot of IM anymore, so it’s sort of a fun event for me, so to finish this competition off with quite a big PB (personal best), an Irish record, I’m very happy with it.”
Banbridge’s Jacob Armon was second in 2:01.83 ahead of clubmate Tom Wilkinson in third (2:08.70).
Two-time Olympian Danielle Hill won the 50m freestyle, to go with her victory in the 50m backstroke, in 25.27. Grace Davison was second to the wall in 25.49, her silver coming after earning gold in the 100m and 200m freestyle. Hill and Davison’s times also put them both into consideration for the European Championship and the Commonwealth Games, which will take place in Glasgow towards the end of July.
Clare Custer, meanwhile, defended her 1,500m freestyle title in 16:54.77. Bangor’s Eva Hand won silver in 17:51.01, with Templogue’s Ava Rock taking the bronze in 18:00.24.
