Olympic champion Daniel Wiffen breezed into the final of the 1500m freestyle, posting a sub 15-minute time to finish second in his heat at the European Aquatics Championships in Paris.
Wiffen, who memorably took gold in the 800m freestyle in Paris two years ago, qualified with reasonable comfort in a race where he and Germany’s Oliver Klemet broke well clear of the chasing pack.
The Armagh swimmer followed Klemet home in a time of 14.52.29, with the German emerging as the fastest swimmer over the three heats with 14.48.51.
Wiffen was the sixth fastest overall after four swimmers bested his time in the third heat, though Germany’s Sven Schwarz unluckily missed out on the ‘two-per-nation’ rule, meaning that Wiffen will be the fifth fastest qualifier in the final, a race that he’s looking forward to on Saturday evening in spite of “feeling tired” after his swim in the 800m.
It got a great time which has me definitely through to the final,” he told RTÉ Sport.
“I needed a bit of a flush out from the 800 and I’m looking forward to it. If I can improve on my time of 14:44, I would love that. That should get a medal, need to get a good recovery in now, just one and a half days to get it in. That 14:52 should be fine to go sub 14:44.!
The final heat was also won by a German, Johannes Liebmann, winner in the 800m freestyle this week, the same event in which Wiffen took Olympic gold in 2024.
His brother Nathan Wiffen fared less well in the third, clocking a disappointing time of 15.15.67, seven seconds shy of his qualifying time. He finished in eighth place, well shy of a qualification place.
Ellen Walshe was second fastest in the 200m Individual Medley
Newly crowned European champion Ellen Walshe cruised through to the semi-finals of the 200m Individual medley, with her compatriot Ellie McCartney joining her in the next phase.
Walshe, who claimed a spectacular gold in the 400m IM on Wednesday, qualified for the semis at her ease on Friday morning, posting a time of 2.12.12 to advance as the second quickest overall.
“I was probably pretty chill, I was probably all nerved out from the 400,” Walshe told RTÉ Sport.
“It was definitely hard to sleep on Wednesday. Tossing and turning constantly and checking my phone and all the lovely messages. Trying to soak it up. But we got to get back to work today.”
McCartney, going in the same heat, placed fifth and 12th overall, qualified with a fair degree of comfort in a time of 2.13.95.
Ellen Walshe (2nd overall) and Ellie McCartney (12th overall) came home second and fifth respectively in their 200m IM heat – both march on to the semis #rtesport #EuropeanAquatics – pic.twitter.com/UHz1R34UeK
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 14, 2026
It tees up a busy evening for the latter, who competes in the final of the 200m breaststroke at 5.43pm today, which also includes Mona McSharry.
Less than an hour later, she has the semis of the 200m IM which commence at 6.35pm.
McCartney said she’ll give both a go but the 200m breaststroke final is her priority.
“Coming here, my focus is 200 breast. So, the final is first,” McCartney told RTÉ Sport. “The semi-final tonight might hurt a little bit, 45 minutes after. But it’s something we’re going to have to push through. And it’s great to get that experience.”
Danielle Hill and Grace Davison advanced to the semis of the 100m backstroke, with Lottie Cullen missing out on the two-per-nation rule.
Davison and Cullen faced off in Heat 3 of the backstroke, with the Bangor swimmer Davison pipping her compatriot to fifth place with just 0.03 separating them at the wall.
This proved crucial, however, with former European champion Hill still to come in the fifth and final heat.
Hill did fade slightly after a strong first split but she still clocked a time of 1.01.12 – just 0.02 quicker than Davison and 0.05 faster than Cullen.
Danielle Hill joins Grace Davision in the semi-finals of the women’s 100m backstroke after finishing 5th in her heat, to finish 14th overall, Davision in 15th – #rtesport #EuropeanAquatics pic.twitter.com/pYbCG21EEd
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 14, 2026
Hill and Davison qualified as the 14th and 15th fastest across the heats overall. Cullen’s time alone placed her within the fastest qualifiers but she fell foul of swimming’s ‘two-per-nation’ rule and was eliminated with Israel’s Tom Mienis – who clocked a slower time – qualifying instead.
Cullen is the first Irish swimmer to be eliminated on this basis in this championship.
There was more good news in the men’s 200m butterfly as Jack Cassin advanced to the semi-finals after strong showing.
Cassin touched the wall in a time of 1.57.59, close to his personal best, to qualify for this evening’s semi-finals as the 16th fastest overall.
“I saw the other guys race and they’re all doing so well and I always feel that bodes well. Ireland’s been doing so well so I’m happy to make it back tonight,” Cassin told RTÉ Sport.
“I can just give it my all really. There’s nothing to lose.”
Jack Cassin advanced to the semis
Liam Custer missed out, his time of 2.04.57 falling well short of the qualification standard.
Earlier on, there was disappointment for the Irish quartet in the men’s 50m breaststroke, with Jack Kelly narrowly missing out on qualification with a time of 27.37 – 0.05 short of the time which would have seen him through to the semi-finals.
Former Irish record holder Darragh Greene delivered a creditable performance, the Longford swimmer posting a time of 27.77 to finish 30th overall.
In an earlier heat, both Adam Bradley and Eoin Corby had disappointing outings, recording times of 28.24 and 28.31 to finish 48th and 52nd respectively.
Before that, Rosalie Phelan posted a time of 25.55 in the women’s 50m freestyle to finish 30th overall and did not advance to the quarter-final.