JACK KELLY HAS qualified for the final at the European Aquatics Championships in Paris today.

The Irish star finished second in the semi-finals of the Men’s 100m Breaststroke with an Irish record of 58.90.

Earlier, Kelly advanced to the semi-finals by winning his heat and again setting an Irish record, with a time of 59.27.

Only Italy’s Nicolò Martinenghi had a superior time of all the 16 semi-finalists in two races, meaning Kelly will fancy his chances of securing a medal in tomorrow’s final.

“I feel amazing, to go under 59 has always been a dream of mine and to actually see it on the board is just like ‘wow’,” Kelly said.

“It’s been an awesome start to the meet and I’m excited to see what I what I do next.

“It was exciting, the energy was there and to feed off it was what I did, it’s been a really cool environment. I can hear the guys, they’ve been very supportive, we’re very close and I couldn’t wish for better teammates; the environment is great and something that is really cool to be part of.

“Tomorrow I’m going to take it out and go full throttle, that’s my thing in the 100 and see what I got.”

In the Women’s 200m Backstroke, Lottie Cullen set a PB but did not advance to the final after finishing sixth in her semi-final with a time of 2:12.22.

Earlier, Cullen secured the last qualifying spot in the heats with a time of 2:12.84.

“I’m really happy with that,” Cullen said.

“I’ve done a few of these (200m Backs) in the last few weeks, so just trying to improve something each time and to get that slight personal best, I’m happy with that.

“I was really tired coming off the back of Commonwealths, I knew I had more in the tank after that swim this morning, so I’m really happy to put up that time tonight. I’ve got a relay tomorrow, then a 50 and 100, so I’m excited to get the long one out of the way.”