Wiffen through to 1500m final as Shortt takes gold
Wiffen was third fastest qualifier on Wednesday morning
- Published
Ireland's Daniel Wiffen progressed to Thursday's 1500m freestyle final at the European Short Course Swimming Championships [25m] in Lublin while John Shortt took gold in the 200m backstroke in a new world junior record time.
Magheralin Wiffen man was the third fastest qualifier during Wednesday morning's heats, finishing in 14:24.38 behind Hungay's Zalan Sarkany [14:23.95] and Sweden's Victor Johansson [14:23.98 whom he finished just behind in the fourth heat.
Olympic 800m freestyle champion Wiffen is seeking to defend the title he won in 2023, having been forced to settle for bronze in the 400m freestyle on Tuesday.
"It was a good time. It hurt a little more than I wanted, but after last night's final I got back quite late," Wiffen said afterwards.
"I'm pretty happy and we move on to tomorrow. I just parked last night, it was amazing and it's a great start to the season – but I am a distance swimmer at heart, so the 1500m is my favourite event."
In Wednesday evening's session, 18-year-old Galway swimmer Shortt took gold in Poland in a time of 1:47.89, having previously set an Irish national record to secure his place in the final.
The teenager returns to the pool on Thursday morning in the 100m backstroke heats.
Team GB's Jack McMillan took the 400m title and the Belfast man was the fastest qualifier in the 200m freestyle heats on Wednesday in a time of 1:41.41, finishing ahead of fellow GB Olympic winning relay team mates Duncan Scott and Matt Richards.
However, as only two swimmers from a country were allowed to move forward to the semi-finals, defending champion Richards missed out.
McMillan then clocked 1:41.69 in coming in second in his semi-final to advance to the final, where he will be joined by Ireland swimmer Evan Bailey, who posted a national record in finishing third in his semi-final.
Also on Wednesday, Ireland's Ellen Walsh set a new Irish senior record in the 100m individual medley heats with a time of 58.80 but lowered that further to 58.19 to finish third in her semi-final and make it through to Thursday's final.
