Ellen Walshe has won a gold medal in the 200m individual medley at the European Aquatics Championships in Paris.<\/p>\n
A strong last 50 metres from the Templeogue swimmer saw her touch the wall in 2:09.81, so adding to the gold she won in the 400m individual medley.<\/p>\n
Ireland’s two-time gold medal winner Ellen Walshe speaks to #RTESport<\/a> in the immediate aftermath of her 200m IM victory pic.twitter.com\/YZFxv7BB9a<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 RT\u00c9 Sport (@RTEsport) August 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Swimming out of Lane 1, Walshe’s tenacity and grit was to the fore as she wore down her opponents.<\/p>\n “I can’t belive it,” was Walshe’s immediate reaction when she spoke to RT\u00c9 Sport afterwards.<\/p>\n “I don’t know how I was feeling coming into it, I don’t even know, I’m just so shocked.”<\/p>\n The victory was even more remarkable given that Walshe was fifth at the 150m-mark.<\/p>\n The opportunity to win a third medal for the 24-year-old will present itself on Sunday evening, This, after Walshe advanced to the final of the 200m fly. She came fourth in her semi, posting a time of 2:08.96, which saw her finish fifth overall.<\/p>\n A simple case of just going for it after that, she revealed: “Just the under water 15, somewhere around that to give myself a bit of a boost – and I just kicked the whole way home.”<\/p>\n Tom Fannon is through to the 50m freestyle final, finishing fifth (21.65) in his semi-final, sixth overall, and he is through to Sunday’s final.<\/p>\n He admitted to RT\u00c9 that it “was a bit of a fight” and that it “hurt more” than his heat.<\/p>\n Tom Fannon speaks to #RTESport<\/a> having qualified for the final of the men’s 50m freestyle pic.twitter.com\/ZBxu0sFsVy<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 RT\u00c9 Sport (@RTEsport) August 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Fannon eyeing improvement in the medal race, adding: “It’s 24 hours, hopefulyy I can go faster. It’s about learning the race at this point. You go through the rounds and you learn a bit more, how your body is feeling. I’m going to recover, ice bath, and get a good sleep.”<\/p>\n Mona McSharry, who so far has medalled twice in the French capital, will have a chance to get on the podium again when she contests the 50m breaststroke final on Sunday evening.<\/p>\n She finished third in her semi-final, seventh overall, in a time of 30.43, slightly slower than the mark of 30.37 she set in her heat.<\/p>\n “I’m happy to be back with another shot to race”<\/p>\n Having qualified in 6th place, Ireland’s Mona McSharry is relieved to be in tomorrow’s final of the women’s 50m breaststroke #RTESport<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/XwYWr9oSDW<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 RT\u00c9 Sport (@RTEsport) August 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n “It’s not great to be going slower in the semi but we’ll adjust for tomorrow,” the Sligo swimmer remarked post-race.<\/p>\n “Hopefully it will be better but I’m happy to be back with another shot to race. I’m struggling to get up to the pace but once I’m there I’m good. It’s uncommon for how I swim; I prefer the longer race. We”l have a hundred on the relay tomorrow and we’ll be back in tomorrow night for another 50.”<\/p>\n Daniel Wiffen ended his championships with an eight-placed finish in the 1500m freestyle final.<\/p>\n Wiffeen’s time was 15:06.30, with the winner, Johannes Liebmann from Germany, setting a new world record in 14:26.79.<\/p>\n “I’m happy I got in a final”<\/p>\n It was not the week Daniel Wiffen would have hoped for, but he wants to take the positives of making it to the finals #RTESport<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/dzQA6aAyhu<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 RT\u00c9 Sport (@RTEsport) August 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Accentuating the positives, Wiffen told RT\u00c9 Sport: “I’m happy I got to a final. I knew from yesterday how much the heats took out of me and how much recovery I had to do. The time is irrelevant, but it was a great race and I was glad to be in it.”<\/p>\n