DANIEL WIFFEN HAS secured a bronze medal in the 400m Freestyle final at the European Aquatics Short Course Swimming Championships in Lublin, Poland.
Meanwhile, Ellie McCartney has reached the final of the Women’s 100m Breaststroke, and John Shortt has qualified for the final of the Men’s 200m Backstroke Final after their blistering performances.
Wiffen, the defending champion in the event, clocked 3:37.02. Great Britain’s Jack McMillan won in 3:36.33, with Olympic champion Lukas Martens of Germany finishing second.
The 800m Freestyle world record holder and Olympic gold medallist, Wiffen led a tight race at the halfway mark.
Belfast man McMillan, who represented Ireland at the Tokyo Olympic Games before switching to Great Britain in 2022, hit the front just after 300m.
Martens, who was in contention throughout, finished strong to place ahead of Wiffen on the podium.
“Honestly, I’m really happy,” Wiffen said, having returned to competitive action for the first time since appendix surgery.
“Taking that long out of the water and having that surgery process. And then having to come back and be at my best again. And all the stuff [with] moving to California, it’s amazing to be back on the podium again.
“Just a little bit gutted because I kind of died a bit. I wanted to go for that world record because we were so close. It was a great race, and two Northern Irish men on the podium.”
Daniel Wiffen is well and truly 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 🥉
Wiffen secures the European 400m Freestyle 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘇𝗲 for Team Ireland in a time of 3:37.02 ☘️
Reflecting further on the challenging year that he has come through, Wiffen added:
“You get that feeling coming out of surgery and then you’re like, ‘Am I ever going to be able to get back to my best? And sure, I was a second over but to get on the podium gives me another boost in training.
“I actually don’t mind a bronze medal. I got fourth place a couple of times and bronze is way nicer. I’m still happy.”
“Well, I said I wanted one gold and I’ve got two chances left so I hope I get one of them.”
Shortt also excelled in the pool this evening and will progress to the final of the Men’s 200m Backstroke on Wednesday as the top seed, taking the centre lane.
The 18-year-old, still a junior, took over a second off the Irish Senior and Junior Record of 1:50.65 that he had set this morning, clocking 1:48.84. He was the only swimmer across the two semi-finals to dip below 1 minute 49 seconds.
“I’m shattered after that,” Shortt said, “It was a huge swim, just missing out on 1:49 and going straight to 1:48, you can’t be angry at that, I’m really excited for tomorrow evening to see how we go there.”
This guy 🫨
John Shortt smashes the Irish Senior and Junior 200m Backstroke records for the second time today with a time of 1:48.84 🔥
The time sees Shortt head into tomorrow night's final as the top seed!
“I just wanted to be 1:49.9, to be 1:48.8 I can’t help but not be surprised with that, but also just really happy you know, I’m coming back into a nice bit of form now, we’re building nicely into the rest of the week and then long course season is soon enough.”
Meanwhile, McCartney has booked her place in the final of the Women’s 100m Breaststroke after a brilliant performance.
Swimming in the first of two semi-finals, McCartney clocked a superb personal best of 1:04.75 to take fifth place. She was forced to wait until after the second semi-final before discovering that she was going through to tomorrow’s final in eighth place overall.
“I’m really happy with the time and I’m really happy as I’ve been struggling with the event this year, so to get it right, in the semi-finals, in order to make the final, I’m really happy with it. I just love getting in and racing girls that are faster than me so I can chase them, so I think that really pushes me on and it helps to get pbs at the right time.”
The Fermanagh native made her way to the semi-finals after coming fourth in her heat earlier today, touching the wall in 1:05.54.
McCartney will be back in the pool on Wednesday morning for the 100m Individual Medley where she will be joined by Ellen Walshe.
Also in action on Wednesday, Evan Bailey, Jack Cassin, Cormac Rynn and Denis O’Brien return for the heats of the 200m Freestyle, while Ireland will compete in the 4x50m Medley Relay.
European Aquatics Short Course Swimming Championships — Day 2 Heats Schedule, Wednesday 3rd December
Women 100m IM
Ellen Walshe, Ellie McCartney
Men 200m Freestyle
Evan Bailey, Cormac Rynn, Jack Cassin, Denis O’Brien
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Daniel Wiffen takes European Short Course bronze as McCartney and Shortt reach final
LAST UPDATE | 2 Dec 2025
DANIEL WIFFEN HAS secured a bronze medal in the 400m Freestyle final at the European Aquatics Short Course Swimming Championships in Lublin, Poland.
Meanwhile, Ellie McCartney has reached the final of the Women’s 100m Breaststroke, and John Shortt has qualified for the final of the Men’s 200m Backstroke Final after their blistering performances.
Wiffen, the defending champion in the event, clocked 3:37.02. Great Britain’s Jack McMillan won in 3:36.33, with Olympic champion Lukas Martens of Germany finishing second.
The 800m Freestyle world record holder and Olympic gold medallist, Wiffen led a tight race at the halfway mark.
Belfast man McMillan, who represented Ireland at the Tokyo Olympic Games before switching to Great Britain in 2022, hit the front just after 300m.
Martens, who was in contention throughout, finished strong to place ahead of Wiffen on the podium.
“Honestly, I’m really happy,” Wiffen said, having returned to competitive action for the first time since appendix surgery.
“Taking that long out of the water and having that surgery process. And then having to come back and be at my best again. And all the stuff [with] moving to California, it’s amazing to be back on the podium again.
“Just a little bit gutted because I kind of died a bit. I wanted to go for that world record because we were so close. It was a great race, and two Northern Irish men on the podium.”
Reflecting further on the challenging year that he has come through, Wiffen added:
“You get that feeling coming out of surgery and then you’re like, ‘Am I ever going to be able to get back to my best? And sure, I was a second over but to get on the podium gives me another boost in training.
“I actually don’t mind a bronze medal. I got fourth place a couple of times and bronze is way nicer. I’m still happy.”
Wiffen, who clocked the quickest time across all seven heats (3:37.04) this morning, still has further races to come over 800m and 1500m where he is targeting glory.
“Well, I said I wanted one gold and I’ve got two chances left so I hope I get one of them.”
Shortt also excelled in the pool this evening and will progress to the final of the Men’s 200m Backstroke on Wednesday as the top seed, taking the centre lane.
The 18-year-old, still a junior, took over a second off the Irish Senior and Junior Record of 1:50.65 that he had set this morning, clocking 1:48.84. He was the only swimmer across the two semi-finals to dip below 1 minute 49 seconds.
“I’m shattered after that,” Shortt said, “It was a huge swim, just missing out on 1:49 and going straight to 1:48, you can’t be angry at that, I’m really excited for tomorrow evening to see how we go there.”
“I just wanted to be 1:49.9, to be 1:48.8 I can’t help but not be surprised with that, but also just really happy you know, I’m coming back into a nice bit of form now, we’re building nicely into the rest of the week and then long course season is soon enough.”
Meanwhile, McCartney has booked her place in the final of the Women’s 100m Breaststroke after a brilliant performance.
Swimming in the first of two semi-finals, McCartney clocked a superb personal best of 1:04.75 to take fifth place. She was forced to wait until after the second semi-final before discovering that she was going through to tomorrow’s final in eighth place overall.
“I’m really happy with the time and I’m really happy as I’ve been struggling with the event this year, so to get it right, in the semi-finals, in order to make the final, I’m really happy with it. I just love getting in and racing girls that are faster than me so I can chase them, so I think that really pushes me on and it helps to get pbs at the right time.”
The Fermanagh native made her way to the semi-finals after coming fourth in her heat earlier today, touching the wall in 1:05.54.
McCartney will be back in the pool on Wednesday morning for the 100m Individual Medley where she will be joined by Ellen Walshe.
Also in action on Wednesday, Evan Bailey, Jack Cassin, Cormac Rynn and Denis O’Brien return for the heats of the 200m Freestyle, while Ireland will compete in the 4x50m Medley Relay.
European Aquatics Short Course Swimming Championships — Day 2 Heats Schedule, Wednesday 3rd December
Women 100m IM
Men 200m Freestyle
Mixed 4x50m Medley Relay
Men 1500m Freestyle
Women 100m Breaststroke Final
Men 200m Backstroke Final
Additional reporting by Sinéad Farrell
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