Daniel Wiffen cites stomach issue after eighth place in world 800m freestyle final as Ellen Walshe makes 200m butterfly decider
"Obviously not my best showing, from last year winning the Olympics to coming eighth in the final', Wiffen said after the race.
"But honestly, I'm happy to be in the final, still progressing, still getting those nerves up. You know, that's what sport's 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 my stomach was in pieces but, you know, I'm happy to be in the final, I'm happy to represent Ireland again in a final.''
There was much better news for Wiffen's fellow Olympian Ellen Walshe, who delivered one of the standout Irish performances of the night by breaking her own Irish record in the 200m butterfly to secure a place in Thursday's final.
The 24-year-old had entered the semi-finals as the seventh seed with a time of 2:09.15 but dropped a stunning 0.73 seconds from her personal best to clock 2:07.69 and finish third in her semi. She now heads into the final ranked fourth overall.
"I'm delighted,' said Walshe afterwards. "Like it was an event I really didn't want to take back up, and I think just to see how far I can get it, I have to be happy. At junior level I really struggled to kind of move it on but now I can see a lot of progress and the back end's definitely there.'
Looking ahead to Thursday's final (12:02pm Irish time), Walshe added: "I'm looking forward to tomorrow to see if I can be a little bit better through the front speed. I'm in against some really big names, so it's going to be exciting.'
Australia's Elizabeth Dekkers will be the top seed in the final after posting a 2:06.13 in the semis.
Elsewhere, Danielle Hill narrowly missed out on a place in the 50m backstroke final despite producing a season's best of 27.71 in the semi-finals, just seven hundredths of a second off her Irish record. The Larne swimmer finished twelfth overall.
"I don't know, very mixed emotions,' Hill reflected. "It is fast. It's now become an Olympic event, so a few more people are a little bit more switched on. I want to be in that final, but I've been around that time now for a couple of years, so there's something we've got to look at and change.'
Thursday will see a busy morning for Team Ireland with five swimmers and one diver in action. Hill returns for the 100m freestyle, John Shortt lines up in the 200m backstroke, and Mona McSharry, Ellie McCartney, and Eoin Corby are all set for the 200m breaststroke.
In diving, Jake Passmore begins his campaign in the 3M springboard preliminaries. With 66 entrants, the event is split into two groups. Passmore will need to await the conclusion of the second preliminary to learn if he's progressed to the top 18 and secured a place in the semi-final.
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