Ellie McCartney completes medal set at European U23 Swimming Championships
Ellie McCartney will bring home a full set of medals from the European U23 Swimming Championships in Slovakia after securing a silver medal in the 200m breaststroke.
McCartney won gold in the 200m individual medley and bronze in the 100m breaststroke earlier in the week.
Denmark's Clara Rybek-Anderson, who finished second in the 200m breaststroke at the 2024 European Championships, touched the wall first in two minutes 23.89 seconds, with McCartney clocking a personal best of 2:24.02 in second. Lithuania's Kotryna Teterekova finished third.
Speaking after the race, the Enniskillen woman said: 'I'm happy with how the past few days have panned out, in the general scale of things this is only one step forward to the World Championships in Singapore.
"It's bittersweet being so close to getting gold again, but to get a PB, I know I put my best foot forward and my best performance out there."
Ellen Walshe, who won gold at the Settecolli Trophy in Rome on Friday in the 400m individual medley, added a silver in the 200m butterfly in 2:09.59 and a bronze in the 200m individual medley in 2:11.80.
Mona McSharry, who won silver in the 100m breaststroke on Thursday, added to the Irish medal haul with another silver in the 200m breaststroke.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Irish Sun
an hour ago
- The Irish Sun
Irish swimmer Ellie McCartney takes ‘one step forward' with Euro U23 silver medal but admits ‘bittersweet it's not gold'
WITH gold and bronze already in her bag, Ellie McCartney added silver in last night's 200m breaststroke final at the European Under-23 Championships in Slovakia. McCartney clocked the fastest heat time of 2:28.07, claiming a central lane for the final. Advertisement 2 Ellie McCartney won a silver medal at the European Under-23 Championships Credit: Ben McShane/Sportsfile 2 Mona McSharry picked up a second silver medal at the Sette Colli International meet in Rome Credit: Piaras O Midheach/Sportsfile However, she could not catch Denmark's Clara Rybak-Andersen, who took gold in 2:23.89. McCartney was just 0.13 of a second behind — a personal best — with Lithuania's Kotryna Teterevkova third in 2:24.86. The Enniskillen native said: 'I'm happy with the past few days, this is one step forward to the World Championships in Singapore. 'It's bittersweet being so close to getting gold again, but to get a PB, I know I put my best foot forward. I've achieved my goals and I'm walking away with my head high.' Advertisement Read More on Olympics Mona McSharry warmed up for next month's World Championships by picking up her second silver medal at the Sette Colli International meet in Rome. The Olympic medallist was second in the 200m breaststroke final to Great Britain's Angharad Evans, who registered 2:23.03. McSharry clocked 2:25.05, with home swimmer Francesca Fangio third in 2:25.18. Ellen Walshe also completed the medal set in a busy evening, taking silver in the 200m butterfly and bronze in the 200m Individual Medley in the Italian capital. The Templeogue swimmer won gold in the 400m IM on Friday. Advertisement Most read in Sport Denmark's Helena Rosendahl took gold in the butterfly in 2:07.68 with Walshe 1.91secs back. Italy's Paola Borrelli was third in 2:09.72. Just over an hour later, the two-time Olympian was back in the pool for the 200m IM. Daniel Wiffen reveals 'crazy' interaction with fans after Olympic gold medal The 23-year-old was third in 2:11.80. Great Britain's Abbie Wood was first in 2:10.72, followed by compatriot Katie Shanahan in 2:11.33.
Irish Times
4 hours ago
- Irish Times
Joe Ward has had to take the hits in his quest to reach the summit of boxing
When Joe Ward answers his phone he's in surprisingly good form, all things considered. Just the night before, he got word that the biggest fight of his professional career had been cancelled. Being an optimist is probably no harm for a professional boxer, a sport in which there's no guarantees of progression, or indeed, paycheques. But this seems more like he's just used to it by now, and he's trying to focus on what's in his control. He's been featured on bills all around the world that have fallen through. Shows in New York, Montreal, Boston, Dublin and now Galway have all collapsed and left the Westmeath man in the lurch. 'We got tickets in our hands, and we always get a lot of family, friends and supporters who buy them, and they pre-booked hotels in Galway. So it's a big let-down', he explains. 'It's never easy when a show gets called, because there's the time, effort, and cost of these training camps. It can be very annoying sometimes.' In a sport where Ireland have often overachieved, 'Mighty' Joe Ward was one of Ireland's truly great amateurs, winning three world championship medals. Amateur boxing has been blighted by corruption, but to its credit, it tends to offer fairly linear pathways to success. Professional boxing, on the other hand, is a big game of snakes and ladders, with very few fighters having a simple route to the summit. READ MORE Joe Ward in action against Marco Delgado. Photograph: Tom Hogan/Inpho On top of that, it would be fair to say that Ward has been particularly unlucky when he has rolled the dice. In 2019 he went pro, saying that he felt he needed to 'give it a lash' before it was too late, but his debut ended up being a bizarre and disastrous affair, with the Irishman blowing his knee out. His opponent was awarded a stoppage win, but Ward was more worried about the long-term future. 'You go pro and you get an opportunity to fight in Madison Square Garden on your debut. You want everything to go right for you, you want to be that person that really stands out. I don't know; that's boxing. It was just the freakiest thing. At that time it was just like 'my god, is this the end of the road before it really starts? Is this what it was all leading up to?'' After recovering ahead of schedule, Ward was supposed to return in March of 2020, but you can guess how that turned out. The injury, along with the lockdowns caused by Covid, meant that Ward spent the first 14 months of his pro career with a record of zero wins and one loss. He admits that things weren't going to plan at that stage. 'That was definitely another blow, sitting out of boxing with Covid. Everything was really, really slow, time passes and everyday was a battle before it had started. I was nearly two or three years behind, all down to a freak injury and Covid; both out of my control. It's been a very tough few years since I started my pro career.' A losing record couldn't have sat well with Ward after his amateur days. After all, Ward has never lost a fight on Irish soil. That streak is particularly impressive considering he fought 2008 Olympic medallist Kenneth Egan in multiple national finals. He was only 17 in the first of those fights in 2010 – a time when amateur boxing brought a major buzz in Dublin. Joe Ward celebrates after beating Dmytro Fedas. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho 'Coming up against the likes of Kenneth Egan, a lot of people didn't really give me much of a chance because I was 17. I don't believe that the National Stadium was ever like that before, and it will take a long time before it's like that again. It was absolutely rocking. There wasn't a seat to sit down on, and looking back at it now they were amazing nights for Irish boxing.' There's been thousands of gruelling hours of training, but Ward's natural talent was clear from the minute he first stepped into his local gym in Moate, Westmeath. That was when he was only six years old; too young to join at the time, he says. Eventually though, his amateur coach Seamus Dorrington got sick of the kid haunting the front door to peek into the gym, and let him lace up some gloves. 'I was always turning up at the door and looking in. Eventually Seamus came up to me and said, 'come in and don't be messing around and hit the bag'. He wasn't paying much attention to me, then he looked over and took a bit of notice, and he said to my uncle 'that young lad is gonna be very special, just look at his footwork. Will you bring him back on Wednesday?'' It's a fitting origin story for Ward, given what he went on to accomplish, but it's the ending that's more of a concern now. Six years into his pro career, with 12 victories behind him, Ward still hasn't been able to climb the rankings. His opponent for the fight in Galway seemed to be the perfect step up: former British and European champion, Lerrone Richards. That was until Richards pulled out and the bill was relocated to Hull, where no opponent could be found for Ward. 'It's just about getting that one breakthrough fight and I felt like that was going to happen against Lerrone Richards. The fighters who are higher ranked than me know what I have achieved. I believe now that at the age of 31 that I'm better than I ever was, so they won't give me the opportunity unless I'm backed by the big guys.' There's a very limited number of 'big guys' out there, but Ward will need one of the major promoters on board, otherwise his ability inside the squared circle could go to waste. Now 31, there's only a certain amount of time left for him to reach the top of the mountain, and right now, the important question is not really whether he can do it. It's whether he'll get the chance to.
The 42
13 hours ago
- The 42
McCartney completes set of medals at European U23 championships
ELLIE MCCARTNEY HAS won a silver medal in the 200m Breaststroke at the European U23 Championships to go with the gold and bronze she won earlier in Slovakia. McCartney completed the set in a time of 2:24.02 to compliment her gold in the 200m Individual Medley and bronze in the 100m Breaststroke. The National Centre Limerick swimmer was third after 100m behind Denmark's Clara Rybek-Anderson and Lithuania's Kotryna Teterekova, before mounting her come back, out splitting both swimmers ahead of her in the second 100 metres. But it wasn't enough time to catch 2024 European silver medallist in the event Rybek-Anderson, who got the touch ahead of McCartney in 2:23.89. Teterekova took third in 2:24.86. Advertisement 'I'm happy with how the past few days have panned out, in the general scale of things this is only one step forward to the World Championships in Singapore,' McCartney said after the race. 'Its bittersweet being so close to getting gold again, but to get a pb, I know I put my best foot forward and my best performance out there, and to walk away a European U23 Champion is more than I could have dreamed of. I've achieved my goals that I wanted to while I was here and anything else was a bonus, so I'm walking away with my head held high.' Meanwhile at the Sette Colli International in Rome, Ellen Walshe doubled up with a silver and bronze medal on the last night of racing. After winning gold in the 400m Individual Medley on Friday, the Templeogue swimmer added silver in the 200m Butterfly in 2:09.59 and bronze in the 200m Individual Medley in 2:11.80 to her haul. McSharry won a second silver medal as she clocked 2:25.05 to take second in the final of the 200m Breaststroke. She won her first silver medal in the 100m Breaststroke on Thursday. Next up for Irish swimmers is the European Junior Championships, taking place in Samorin, Slovakia, which is the same venue as the European U23 Championships. The competition will run from Tuesday 1 July to Sunday 6 July, with sixteen Irish swimmers selected. The team include 2024 European Junior Champion in the 200m Backstroke and Silver medallist in the 100m Backstroke, John Shortt, and bronze medallist in the 100m Freestyle from the last edition Paris 2024 Olympian, Grace Davison. Shortt is also qualified for the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.
