ELLEN WALSHE SET a new Irish record in the 200m Butterfly to secure a place in Thursday’s final, while an “uncomfortable” Daniel Wiffen placed eighth in the 800m Freestyle Final on night four of the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.
Templeogue swimmer Walsh entered the semi-finals as the seventh seed in 2:09.15 but she smashed her own national record of 2:08.42 to place third in the second semi-final, and earn fourth seed overall for the final.
Walshe, whose new record time is 2:07:48, said of her effort: “I’m delighted. Like, it was an event I really didn’t want to take back up… I really struggled to kind of move it on, but now I can see a lot of progress and the backend is definitely there.
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow to see if I can kind of be a little bit better through the front speed a bit, but yeah, I’m in against some really big names, so it’s going to be exciting.”
Australia’s Elizabth Dekkers (2:06.13) will be the top seed for the final, which will take place at 12:02pm Irish time on Thursday.
Earlier on Wednesday, Olympic and world champion Daniel Wiffen finished eighth in the 800m Freestyle final but said his “stomach was in pieces” from the 400-metre mark onwards as he clocked a time of 7:58:56.
Tunisia’s Ahmed Jaouadi took gold in 7:36.88, with German swimmers Sven Schwarz and Lukas Märtens taking silver and bronze respectively.
Wiffen, who was crowned Olympic champion in the event a year ago to the day, was looking to defend his 2024 World Championship title but was clearly off-colour, leading for the first 350 metres before falling off.
Wiffen recently suffered with a bout of appendicitis and said that he was “still progressing” as he seeks to rediscover his world-leading form.
“Obviously not my best showing, from last year winning the Olympics to coming eighth in the final,” Wiffen acknowledged. “But honestly, I’m happy to be in the final, still progressing, still getting those nerves up.
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“You know, that’s what sports about: trying to get myself uncomfortable — and I was definitely uncomfortable in that race. I’m pretty sure I was leading at one point and then I got to 400m and then just kind of stomach was in pieces, so not my best showing but… I’m I’m happy to represent Ireland again in a final.”
In her 50m Backstroke semi-final, Danielle Hill swam faster than her morning time of 27.84, touching seventh in her heat in a season-best 27.71.
Hill was seven hundredths of a second outside her Irish record of 27.64, finishing 12th overall.
“I don’t know, very mixed emotions,” said the Larne swimmer afterwards. “I think looking at it, it is fast. I suppose, it’s now become an Olympic event, so I suppose a few more people are a little bit more switched on.
“So, yeah, listen, of course I want to be in that final, but I’ve been around that time now for a couple of years, so there’s something there that we’ve got to look at and change in order to get that improvement.
“So, all in all, disappointed obviously not to make that final, but massive learning, and last week I wasn’t even swimming 25 metres of backstroke and I’ve done two races now, so I’m happy.”
Also in action on Wednesday was Evan Bailey, who had equalled the Irish record and progressed to the semi-finals of the 200m Freestyle earlier in the week, and returned for the 100m Freestyle. Bailey touched second in his heat in 49.52, outside his best time of 49.15.
The 100m Freestyle was Bailey’s final individual event of the meet, with the National Centre Limerick swimmer due to return on Friday for the Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay.
Five Irish swimmers and one diver will be in action on Thursday morning in Singapore, the fifth day of the Worlds.
Danielle Hill is back for the 100m Freestyle Heats. John Shortt returns for his main event, the 200m Backstroke, and Mona McSharry and Ellie McCartney are back on the blocks for the 200m Breaststroke, as is Eoin Corby.
In Diving, Jake Passmore will get his campaign underway in the 3M Springboard preliminaries.
With 66 divers entered, the competition will be split into two preliminary rounds. Passmore goes in preliminary A and will need to wait until the end of preliminary B to see if he has made the top 18 and earned a place in the semi-final.
Elsewhere, France’s Leon Marchand smashed the 200m individual medley world record in Singapore on Wednesday, setting a new mark of 1min 52.69sec.
Swimming in the semi-finals at the world championships, the 23-year-old took more than a second off the previous record of 1:54.00 set by Ryan Lochte in 2011.
Marchand beat Michael Phelps’s long-standing 400m medley record at the world championships in Japan two years ago.
“Actually I can’t believe it right now,” said Marchand, who won four individual golds in front of his home fans at the Paris Olympics a year ago.
“I knew I was going to be close to my PB (personal best) because I felt really good today and preparation has been pretty good.
“But 1:52 is unbelievable for me.”
Marchand took an extended break from swimming after his Paris Olympics heroics and only returned to competition in May.
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Walshe breaks Irish record to reach 200m Butterfly final; Wiffen 8th in 800m Freestyle final
LAST UPDATE | 30 Jul 2025
ELLEN WALSHE SET a new Irish record in the 200m Butterfly to secure a place in Thursday’s final, while an “uncomfortable” Daniel Wiffen placed eighth in the 800m Freestyle Final on night four of the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.
Templeogue swimmer Walsh entered the semi-finals as the seventh seed in 2:09.15 but she smashed her own national record of 2:08.42 to place third in the second semi-final, and earn fourth seed overall for the final.
Walshe, whose new record time is 2:07:48, said of her effort: “I’m delighted. Like, it was an event I really didn’t want to take back up… I really struggled to kind of move it on, but now I can see a lot of progress and the backend is definitely there.
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow to see if I can kind of be a little bit better through the front speed a bit, but yeah, I’m in against some really big names, so it’s going to be exciting.”
Australia’s Elizabth Dekkers (2:06.13) will be the top seed for the final, which will take place at 12:02pm Irish time on Thursday.
Earlier on Wednesday, Olympic and world champion Daniel Wiffen finished eighth in the 800m Freestyle final but said his “stomach was in pieces” from the 400-metre mark onwards as he clocked a time of 7:58:56.
Tunisia’s Ahmed Jaouadi took gold in 7:36.88, with German swimmers Sven Schwarz and Lukas Märtens taking silver and bronze respectively.
Wiffen, who was crowned Olympic champion in the event a year ago to the day, was looking to defend his 2024 World Championship title but was clearly off-colour, leading for the first 350 metres before falling off.
Wiffen recently suffered with a bout of appendicitis and said that he was “still progressing” as he seeks to rediscover his world-leading form.
“Obviously not my best showing, from last year winning the Olympics to coming eighth in the final,” Wiffen acknowledged. “But honestly, I’m happy to be in the final, still progressing, still getting those nerves up.
“You know, that’s what sports about: trying to get myself uncomfortable — and I was definitely uncomfortable in that race. I’m pretty sure I was leading at one point and then I got to 400m and then just kind of stomach was in pieces, so not my best showing but… I’m I’m happy to represent Ireland again in a final.”
In her 50m Backstroke semi-final, Danielle Hill swam faster than her morning time of 27.84, touching seventh in her heat in a season-best 27.71.
Hill was seven hundredths of a second outside her Irish record of 27.64, finishing 12th overall.
“I don’t know, very mixed emotions,” said the Larne swimmer afterwards. “I think looking at it, it is fast. I suppose, it’s now become an Olympic event, so I suppose a few more people are a little bit more switched on.
“So, yeah, listen, of course I want to be in that final, but I’ve been around that time now for a couple of years, so there’s something there that we’ve got to look at and change in order to get that improvement.
“So, all in all, disappointed obviously not to make that final, but massive learning, and last week I wasn’t even swimming 25 metres of backstroke and I’ve done two races now, so I’m happy.”
Also in action on Wednesday was Evan Bailey, who had equalled the Irish record and progressed to the semi-finals of the 200m Freestyle earlier in the week, and returned for the 100m Freestyle. Bailey touched second in his heat in 49.52, outside his best time of 49.15.
The 100m Freestyle was Bailey’s final individual event of the meet, with the National Centre Limerick swimmer due to return on Friday for the Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay.
Five Irish swimmers and one diver will be in action on Thursday morning in Singapore, the fifth day of the Worlds.
Danielle Hill is back for the 100m Freestyle Heats. John Shortt returns for his main event, the 200m Backstroke, and Mona McSharry and Ellie McCartney are back on the blocks for the 200m Breaststroke, as is Eoin Corby.
In Diving, Jake Passmore will get his campaign underway in the 3M Springboard preliminaries.
With 66 divers entered, the competition will be split into two preliminary rounds. Passmore goes in preliminary A and will need to wait until the end of preliminary B to see if he has made the top 18 and earned a place in the semi-final.
Elsewhere, France’s Leon Marchand smashed the 200m individual medley world record in Singapore on Wednesday, setting a new mark of 1min 52.69sec.
Swimming in the semi-finals at the world championships, the 23-year-old took more than a second off the previous record of 1:54.00 set by Ryan Lochte in 2011.
Marchand beat Michael Phelps’s long-standing 400m medley record at the world championships in Japan two years ago.
“Actually I can’t believe it right now,” said Marchand, who won four individual golds in front of his home fans at the Paris Olympics a year ago.
“I knew I was going to be close to my PB (personal best) because I felt really good today and preparation has been pretty good.
“But 1:52 is unbelievable for me.”
Marchand took an extended break from swimming after his Paris Olympics heroics and only returned to competition in May.
You can find all the World Aquatics Championships results here.
- With reporting from AFP
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