TEAM Ireland enjoyed more medal success in the European Aquatics Championships in Belgrade on Friday, while Magheralin man Daniel Wiffen was amongst a host of others in action in the Sette Colli Trophy in Rome.
Ireland added another European medal to their haul in what has been a successful week, with Clare Cryan grabbing bronze in the 3m springboard final, after disappointment in the 1m version on Wednesday.
Cryan scored an impressive 240.55 across her five dives, a remarkable improvement only five years on from her 23rd-placed finish in the World Aquatics Championships’ final of the same event.
It is redemption for the 30-year-old Sheffield-born woman, who described herself as “frustrated and confused” when her 2024 Olympic dream came to a definitive end in February.
Meanwhile, Larne’s Danielle Hill, a European gold medallist on Thursday night, had less than 24 hours to bask in the glory of her success in the 50m backstroke final.
On Friday, Hill was in the pool for the morning session of the 100m version of the same stroke, where she stated her mission was to “park the emotion of last night”.
She was in action for a second time on Friday in the evening semi-final, alongside 19-year-old Lottie Cullen, who signed with University of Houston back in April.
Cullen clocked an impressive time of 1:01.19, as she qualified in fourth place for her first-ever international final.
And Hill, Ireland’s fastest-ever female swimmer, certainly wasn’t in the mood for complaining, as she comfortably qualified in second place for Saturday night’s final, completing her two lengths in just over the minute mark.
Another with an action-packed day was Enniskillen’s Ellie McCartney, who had less than an hour between her 200m breaststroke final and the semi-final of the 200m Individual Medley (IM) event.
In the former, she made it home in a time of 2:28.68, leaving her eighth overall in Europe.
The semi-final of the 200m IM saw her similarly determined to ensure the breaststroke final was not to be her last.
Coming in at a time of 2:14.37, she came eighth, which sealed her place in the final.
The 200m men’s butterfly semi-final saw another Irish representative in the shape of Jack Cassin, and although he failed to qualify, he did succeed in breaking his personal best, finishing 13th in a time of 1:58.89.
The final Irish athlete in action in Belgrade was Conor Ferguson in the final of the 50m backstroke, and the Loughborough University swimmer finished in a solid time of 24.87 in sixth place, as Greece’s Apostolos Christou defended his European title.
The Belfast man is in action again in the 100m backstroke on Saturday.
In Rome, Wiffen came eighth in the 400m freestyle final of the Sette Colli Trophy, as did his compatriots Darragh Greene and Max McCusker in the 100m breaststroke and 100m butterfly respectively.
Magheralin’s Wiffen can look forward to the 800m freestyle final on Saturday.
Tom Fannon managed to win the 50m freestyle B final, equalling his Irish record in 21.94 seconds.