Kilkenny’s Naomi Trait who’s part of Ireland’s first-ever mixed 4x200m freestyle relay team has qualified for the final at the European Championships in Hungary.
The team advanced from the heats this morning in a time of 7:51.24 which is a new Irish senior record.
This event is not included in the Olympic or World Championships schedule but provides Ireland with a much-needed warm-up for the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay on Wednesday, which is an Olympic event, and one in which Ireland finished 16th at the World Championships in 2019.
The finals start at 5 pm Irish time.
Mona McSharry
Meanwhile, Sligo’s Mona McSharry has earned a spot in Tuesday night’s 100m Breaststroke Semi-Final at the LEN European Aquatics Championships, having finished joint second in her heat in a time of 1:06.97.
The performance was her third swim under the FINA ‘A’ time for Tokyo 2021 and enough to see her advance to the Semi-Finals ranked joint 10th, her time just 0.99 slower than the fastest heat time of 1:05.98, set by Italy’s Arianna Castiglioni.
McSharry first achieved the Olympic Consideration Time in this event at the Irish National Team Trials in April, swimming 1:06.97 in heats and her present Irish Senior Record of 1:06.29 in round two.
The 20-year-old’s last appearance at an international event for Ireland yielded a European Short Course Championships Bronze Medal in the 50m Breaststroke.
Conor Ferguson
Already on the hunt for an Irish medal at this championships is Conor Ferguson, who will be the first of Ireland’s swimmers to contest a final at this meet when lining up for the 50m Backstroke Final on Tuesday evening.
