Daniel Wiffen Leads Home Twin Nathan In 800 For Distance Treble At Irish Open; Ellen Walshe Clinches Fifth Gold
Daniel Wiffen completed the distance treble in the 800 free as his twin brother Nathan made it a Wiffen 1-2 for the third time this week on the final day of the Irish Open Championships in Bangor.
Daniel and Nathan Wiffen: Courtesy: Swim Ireland
The double Olympic medallist won the 1500 free on the opening night in 14:51.38 before taking the 400 free in 3:49.35. On Sunday he clinched the sweep of the distance events with a 7:58.08 outing over 16 lengths.
Nathan Wiffen was next to touch in 8:12.68 as he claimed his third silver medal of the meet with Liam Custer third in 8:17.36.
While he adds a further three gold medals to his ever-growing collection, Wiffen’s times have fallen short of the targets he outlined before the meet. The double world champion said if that were to happen then he would leave his Cal training base and return to Dublin.
Walshe Makes It Five; Irish 200IM Mark For Cassin
Ellen Walshe won her fifth title of the week when she edged a close-fought 200IM with Ellie McCartney. Walshe – who was eighth at last year’s World Championships in Singapore – stopped the clock in 2:13.51 to clinch victory by 0.06 as McCartney took silver in 2:13.57. Maren Clayton Byrne was almost six seconds adrift in third (2:19.33).
It has been a golden meet for Walshe who also won the 400IM, 400 free and 100 and 200 fly.
Speaking through Swim Ireland she said: “It’s been a great meet, it’s great to be up here (in Bangor), I think we’ve had a fantastic meet, myself and Templeogue, it’s been great to be here.”
Jack Cassin set a new Irish and meet record in the 200IM in the final race of the Championships. The National Centre Limerick swimmer clocked 2:01.00 to break Brendan Hyland’s l2019 mark of 2:01.52, securing his third national title of the week to add to his 100m and 200m butterfly golds. Cassin’s performance was also inside the consideration standard for the European Championships. Banbridge’s Jacob Armon finished second in 2:01.83, also under the European Championships consideration time, while fellow Banbridge swimmer Tom Wilkinson claimed bronze in 2:08.70.
Ellen Walshe: Photo Courtesy: World Aquatics
Danielle Hill won the 50 free in 25.27 with Grace Davison adding silver in 25.49 to her 100/200 double with Rosalie Phelan third in 25.56.
Matthew Hamilton set an Irish junior 50 free record of 22.57 in prelims before returning to take the title in 22.75. Oisin Tebite (22.93) and Dylan Registe (22.96) were second and third respectively.
Fleur Lewis headed the women’s 1500 free for a commemorative gold with Clare Custer the first Irishwoman home to take the national title in 16:54.50. Eva Hand (17:51.01) and Ava Rock (18:00.00) joined Custer on the podium.
Over the course of the week, Irish swimmers set seven Irish records, two Irish junior records and 10 Championship records. In total, 22 swimmers recorded 48 consideration times for the European Aquatics Championships, while six swimmers achieved 14 consideration times for the Commonwealth Games. Five swimmers also met the qualification standards for the European Aquatics Junior Championships.