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Shane Ryan at the European Aquatics Championships earlier this year. Andrea Masini/INPHO

Ryan advances to 50m backstroke final as Walshe breaks sixth Irish record

Meanwhile, Danielle Hill narrowly missed out on breaking her own Irish record in the 50m backstroke.

IRELANDโ€™S SHANE RYAN has earned his spot in the final of the menโ€™s 50m backstroke at the World Swimming Championships in Budapest.

Ryan improved on his time from Thursday morningโ€™s heats to reach Fridayโ€™s final, which is his first final at the competition since the 2018 World Championships. After leading for much of his semi-final, he took fourth in a time of 22.89 to progress in eighth overall.

His time was just .13 of a second off his Irish record of 22.76 which he set in that last World Final in 2018, where he won a bronze medal.

โ€œIโ€™m good, but annoyed,โ€ he said after his race. โ€œNo look I didnโ€™t get any sleep during the day, and if you donโ€™t get any sleep, youโ€™ve just got to chill out the best you can and take your mind away from it, but I get very excited about racing.

โ€œBut look I came in, shoulder felt a bit better, but again itโ€™s just lack of racing this year and I think if I do a bit more racing, I got faster there which was good, so itโ€™s just cleaning it up again, thatโ€™s it, going out, having fun, racing the other boys, because it was fast!โ€

Ellen Walshe broke her sixth Irish record in three days of racing, taking .3 of a second off her time in the 100m individual medley. She touched the wall in 58.55 to finish fourth in her semi-final and ninth overall to just miss out on a place in the final.

โ€œI was in the middle lanes with the fastest girls and itโ€™s a great race to be part of and I can see myself in the mix, but yeah itโ€™s not a main event for me and I think sprint is very different from what Iโ€™m used to, so Iโ€™m happy enough with the swim,โ€ she said.

Danielle Hill was just one hundredth of a second off her Irish record in the womenโ€™s 50m backstroke semi-final as she clocked 26.34 to climb up from 13th in the world rankings to eleventh. 

Speaking after her race, the Larne swimmer said:

โ€œIโ€™m happy that I done what I wanted to from heats to semiโ€™s and fixed what I wanted to fix, 50s are so hard because youโ€™ve got to get everything right, the littlest of errors and it will go against you so yeah listen, I fixed what I wanted to fix is the best way to put it.โ€

Hill returns to the pool on Saturday for the 50m Freestyle.

Joining Ryan and Walshe in action on Friday, National Centre Limerickโ€™s Ellie McCartney and Eoin Corby will compete in the 200m Breaststroke. McCartney is making her World Championships debut for Ireland, while Max McCusker returns for the 100m Butterfly heats.

Day 4 Heats Schedule โ€“ Friday 13th December

Female 200m Breaststroke โ€“ Ellie McCartney
Male 200m Breaststroke โ€“ Eoin Corby
Female 100m Butterfly โ€“ Ellen Walshe
Male 100m Butterfly โ€“ Max McCusker
Male 50m Backstroke Final โ€“ Shane Ryan

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