Ellie McCartney impresses with seventh-place finish on World Aquatics Championship final debut, Tom Fannon narrowly misses out
The 20-year-old, who swims at National Centre Limerick, came into the meet ranked 18th and will take huge confidence from making the final on her debut.
'It's an incredible experience,' the Enniskillen woman said after the race. 'I didn't have high expectations coming into the final. At the start of this year all I wanted to do was qualify for the World Champs so, constantly this year as the season progressed, we had to keep on moving that target.
'I never thought it would be a final, but we're here now. I have now swam a world long course final, it's something not many people have done.'
She added: 'Tonight's swim may not have been the fastest I've ever been in, but I came into this meet seeded 18th and I finished seventh, so progression is what it is, and just moving forward through each of the rounds. I'll take a learning from this time and hopefully apply it to future competitions.'
Tom Fannon was just four hundredths of a second from making the 50m freestyle final as he clocked 21.81 in the semi-final.
The National Centre Dublin swimmer, who owns the Irish record in the event at 21.74 from the Paris 2024 semi-final, was faster than his heat swim of 21.87 to place seventh in his semi-final and 12th overall. The eighth and last place in the final will require a swim-off with two swimmers clocking 21.77 while Australia's Cameron McEvoy progresses as the fastest seed in 21.30.
Speaking after the race, Fannon said: 'I'm obviously annoyed, I think any athlete would be. If I just didn't make certain mistakes, then I would be back in the final. I think, no, I don't even think, I know that I'm in the best shape I've ever been. I'm swimming the fastest I've ever been, so, it's just trying to put that all together.
'Sometimes it's just not your day. If I did that again tomorrow, it would be quicker. So, like, it's just bittersweet.'
On Saturday, the penultimate day of racing in Singapore, 50m backstroke semi-finalist Danielle Hill returns for the 50m freestyle, 100m breaststroke semi-finalist Mona McSharry is back for the 50m breaststroke and Shane Ryan, who competed in the 50m butterfly on the opening day of racing goes in the 50m backstroke.
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