Walshe and McSharry Star as Day Three Heats Deliver Fast Times in Bangor
Ellen Walshe recorded two top seed times and set a new Irish Record while Mona McSharry set a new Championship Record as the Irish Open Swimming Championships and Commonwealth Games Trials continued in Bangor on Friday morning.
Templeogue’s Walshe, already a double national champion in Bangor in the 200m Butterfly and 400m Individual Medley, continued her impressive form with a new Irish Record of 1:58.72 in the 200m Freestyle, securing another European Championships consideration time. The two-time Olympian broke her own 2025 record of 1:58.88 and was the only swimmer under the two-minute mark. Grace Davison clocked 2:00.92 to qualify second and achieve another European time, while Victoria Catterson swam 2:01.29 for third.
In the 100m Butterfly heats Walshe swam exactly one minute qualifying as the top seed for the Final ahead of National Centre Ulster’s Alana Burns Atkin (1:00.78) and City of Manchester’s Jessica Calderbank (1:00.83).
Mona McSharry produced her third‑fastest ever swim in the 200m Breaststroke, touching in 2:23.02 to win her heat and eclipse Ellie McCartney’s 2025 Championship Record of 2:24.35. McCartney responded with a heat win of her own in 2:28.93, as both swimmers secured European Championships consideration times, with McCartney also adding a Commonwealth Games standard. Shark’s Niamh Connery was third fastest in the heats in 2:33.37, earning a consideration time for the European Aquatics Junior Championships.
Newly crowned Irish Record holder and national champion in the 50m Breaststroke, Jack Kelly, is on course for a second title on Friday evening after posting the fastest time in the 200m Breaststroke. The Terenure swimmer touched in 2:12.42, just outside the European Aquatics Championships consideration time of 2:12.27. National Centre Ulster’s Lachey Reed and Trojan’s Beau McCabe completed the top three in 2:20.03 and 2:20.12 respectively.
John Shortt topped the Open 50m Backstroke heats to secure top seed for the Final in 25.21. The National Centre Limerick swimmer, who set new Irish and Championship Records in the 100m Backstroke on Thursday, was inside the European Aquatics Championships consideration time of 25.49. Paris Olympian Conor Ferguson advanced as the second‑fastest qualifier in 25.54, just outside the standard.
Larne’s Danielle Hill leads the 50m Backstroke Final after clocking 28.56 in the heats, adding another Commonwealth Games and European Championships consideration swim. Jena Macdougald (UCD) and Lottie Cullen (National Centre Ulster) qualified second and third in 29.04 and 29.13 respectively.
Cormac Rynn (National Centre Limerick) topped the 200m Freestyle standings, producing the fastest swim of the heats and the only time under 1:50 with a 1:49.56 effort. Daniel Wiffen qualified second in 1:50.19, ahead of Irish Record holder Evan Bailey in 1:50.75.
Jack Cassin (National Centre Limerick) won the final heat of the Open 100m Butterfly heats in 53.42 to lead the qualifiers into the final. Heat two winner, Lisburn City’s Matthew Hamilton, is the second fastest qualifier in 53.64, adding a second European Championships Consideration time (U23) to the 100m Freestyle.
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International Swimming Events Summer 2026
2026 Commonwealth Games, Glasgow, Scotland, 24th – 29th July
Consideration Time Achieved: Grace Davison (100m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke), Daniel Wiffen (1500m Freestyle), Lottie Cullen (100m Backstroke), Danielle Hill (50m, 100m Backstroke), Ellie McCartney (200m Breaststroke)
Initial Qualification Time Achieved: Daniel Wiffen (400m, 800m Freestyle), Ellie McCartney (200m IM)
*All swimmers with an initial qualification time will need to compete in the same individual event/s at the 2026 Irish Open Championships to assure the National Performance Director of competitive readiness and achieve the Consideration Time detailed in Table 2 here.
2026 European Aquatics Championships, Paris, France, 10th – 16th August
Consideration Time Achieved: Evan Bailey (100m Freestyle), Grace Davison (100m, 200m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke), Jack Cassin (200m Butterfly), Matthew Hamilton (100m Freestyle, 100m Butterfly), Daniel Wiffen (1500m Freestyle), Mona McSharry (50m, 200m Breaststroke), Eoin Corby (50m Breaststroke), Darragh Greene (50m Breaststroke), Jack Kelly (50m Breaststroke), Adam Bradley (50m Breaststroke), Christian O’Brien (50m Breaststroke), Lottie Cullen (100m Backstroke), John Shortt (50m, 100m Backstroke), Ellen Walshe (200m Freestyle, 200m Butterfly, 400m IM), Liam Custer (400m IM), Danielle Hill (50m, 100m Backstroke), Ellie McCartney (200m Breaststroke), Rosalie Phelan (50m Butterfly), Alana Burns-Atkin (50m Butterfly)
Initial Qualification Time Achieved: Daniel Wiffen (400m, 800m Freestyle), Ellen Walshe (200m IM), Mona McSharry (100m Breaststroke), Ellie McCartney (200m IM), John Shortt (200m Backstroke), Tom Fannon (50m Freestyle), Evan Bailey (200m Freestyle), Eoin Corby (100m, 200m Breaststroke)
*All swimmers with an initial qualification time will need to compete in the same individual event/s at the 2026 Irish Open Championships to assure the National Performance Director of competitive readiness and achieve the Consideration Time detailed in Table 2 here.
2026 European Para Swimming Championships, Kocaeli, Turkiye, 7th – 12th September
Qualification Time Achieved: Róisín NíRiain, Barry McClements, Dearbhaile Brady, Deaten Registe, Síomha Brady, Luke Brennan, Ellie Lynch, Luke O’Donoghue
2026 European Junior Aquatics Championships, Germany, 7th – 12th July
Qualification Time Achieved: Clare Custer (800m Freestyle), Maren Clayton Byrne (400m IM), Julia Dziedzic (400m IM), Phelim Hanley (400m IM), Niamh Connery (200m Breaststroke
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