Ireland’s Mona McSharry came agonisingly close to another medal at the European Short Course Swimming Championships in Glasgow this evening while Danielle Hill, Shane Ryan and Ireland’s 4x50m Mixed Freestyle Relay took down another three Irish Records.
Following a historic first for Ireland in the relay this morning, Shane Ryan, Jack McMillan, Danielle Hill and Mona McSharry broke the new standard of 1:32.18 by .32 of a second in the Final to finish in eighth place overall. It was a double record for Shane Ryan as he broke Barry Murphy’s 2008 50m Freestyle Record of 21.53 in leading off in 21.41.
Earlier in the evening, McSharry, who won 50m Breaststroke Bronze on Wednesday, was competing in the 100m Breaststroke Final after progressing from last night’s semi-final as the fastest qualifier.
In the final, the Marlins swimmer touched in 1:05.16, her third fastest ever time in the event and just .04 outside the medals. The 19-year-old was upbeat after the swim telling RTE that she was still learning how to best swim that race ‘It was a great race yesterday in the semi-final and it would have been nice to repeat that, but I’m still learning, every time I get in there I swim it differently, so I’m still trying to figure out what works for me, but I’m overall happy with how this week has gone.’
Italy’s Martina Carraro took the gold medal in the 100m Breaststroke Final in 1:04.51 with her team-mate Arianna Castiglioni in the silver medal position in 1:05.01, while Jenna Laukkanen completed the podium in 1:05.12.
Danielle Hill continued her assault on the Irish Record books with a third of the week in the 50m Backstroke Semi-Final. Hill was the first Irish female to break the 59 second barrier in the 100m event on Wednesday and followed that up today by breaking 27 seconds twice in the 50m, first in the heats in 26.92, then in the semi-final in 26.74 to finish eleventh overall.
In the 200m Freestyle Semi-Final, Jordan Sloan was just on the personal best he set this morning touching in 47.54. Sloan had progressed in 47.52 from the morning heats ahead of helping the 4x50m Freestyle Relay into the Final.
Ireland will get the final day of action in Glasgow underway tomorrow with McSharry and Hill in the 50m Freestyle Heats. Hill is the current Irish Record holder in the event in 25.00 having broken McSharry’s record of 25.04 just three weeks ago. Shane Ryan returns, with Conor Ferguson, for the heats of the 50m Backstroke, an event in which Ryan won Bronze at the World Championships in 2018. Niamh Coyne and Molly Mayne take on the 200m Breaststroke while Brendan Hyland, Cillian Melly and Paddy Johnston compete in the 200m Butterfly. The last heats session will conclude with Ireland Men and Women in the 4x50m Medley Relays.
2019 LEN European SC Swimming Championships (Glasgow)
Day 4 – Saturday 7th December l Heats/Finals Results
| Women 50m Backstroke | Danielle Hill | 26.92 ISR | SF 26.74 ISR | |
| Men 100m Freestyle | Curtis Coulter | 49.47 | ||
| Jack McMillan | 47.96 | |||
| Robbie Powell | 49.71 | |||
| Jordan Sloan | 47.52 | SF 47.54 | ||
| Women 200m Freestyle | Maria Godden | 2:01.07 | ||
| Women 200m Individual Medley | Amelia Kane | 2:16.63 | ||
| Molly Mayne | 2:19.46 | |||
| Mixed 4x50m Freestyle Relay | Ireland | 1:32.18 | F 1:31.86 ISR | |
| Women 100m Breaststroke | Mona McSharry | 1:05.50 | SF 1:04.36 | F 1:05.16 |
Day 5 – Sunday 8th December l Heats Schedule
| Women 50m Freestyle | Danielle Hill |
| Mona McSharry | |
| Men 50m Backstroke | Conor Ferguson |
| Shane Ryan | |
| Women 200m Breaststroke | Niamh Coyne |
| Molly Mayne | |
| Men 200m Butterfly | Brendan Hyland |
| Paddy Johnston | |
| Cillian Melly | |
| Men 4x50m Medley Relay | Ireland |
| Women 4x50m Medley Relay | Ireland |
