Three Olympic Debuts for Ireland on Opening Morning of Paris Games
Swimming got underway at Paris Le Défense on Saturday with Ellen Walshe and Ireland Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay diving into […]
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Swimming got underway at Paris Le Défense on Saturday with Ellen Walshe and Ireland Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay diving into action on the opening morning.
In the 100m Butterfly, Ellen Walshe, competing in her second Olympic Games, clocked 58.70 for sixth place in her heat.
Speaking after the race the Templeogue swimmer said ‘‘I don’t think the time is great but considering I’m trying to race the 400m (Individual Medley) on Monday, I have to keep a bit of mileage in my belt and my legs a bit fresh too; but it felt good going in and I just enjoyed it to be honest, it was great to be out there and first for Ireland.’
She continued ‘The atmosphere out there is electric, it’s great to be a part of it and I think to walk out and be first for Ireland is also just amazing. It’s great to have them (family) here. The whole family doesn’t get to come a lot, as we race halfway across the world, but I think to have them in the stands, no idea where they are but that’s probably a good thing, so that’s pretty special.’
Walshe’s main events come later in the week with the 400m Individual Medley on Monday and 200m Individual Medley on Friday.
Erin Riordan, Victoria Catterson and Grace Davison, making their Olympic debuts, joined Tokyo Olympian Danielle Hill in the Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay; Ireland’s first female relay at a Games since Munich 1972. The quartet were just outside the Irish Record of 3:41.75 in 3:42.67, for eighth in their heat, after a great battle with Hong Kong in the next lane who touched just ahead in 3:42.42.
16-year-old Davison, the youngest member of Team Ireland spoke after the race ‘It’s really exciting. I’m privileged to be amongst these girls. I’ve known them for probably less than they’ve all known each other but they’ve made me feel really welcome. And I was really confident walking out with them this morning. And I think we all push each other on and that’s really special to have in the team.’
Catterson added ‘To be out here with the girls and like Grace only being 16, I think we can all say that she’s held herself incredibly. All of us, I think at 16, would have been a mess out there – like the crowd that loud and stuff but no, she has held herself so well and we’re all so proud to have her on the team with us. We’re just so proud to be up here representing our country with these girls. It’s just a once in a lifetime experience.’
Riordan said ‘It was crazy. I’ve never heard of a crowd like that for swimming ever in my life, so it was such an amazing experience. Even people cheering for Ireland, like we never we never got that when we’re away, absolutely amazing. She added ‘I really hope that young girls will have watched that and seen if we can do it, they can do it too and push it on, so I think it’s really exciting for the sport in Ireland moving forward.’
Looking ahead to the 100m Backstroke on Monday, Hill said ‘Yeah, it was incredible. And obviously freestyle isn’t the forte, but to stand you know, alongside these girls, and get that first kind of nerves out of the way and now we I can look forward to the rest of the week, the individual races and back up in the relay again, so you know that’s just the first step done, run through processes of everything, you know, fine line some things and move forward now.’
Sunday will see Mona McSharry make her Paris debut in the 100m Breaststroke. McSharry, a finalist in the event in Tokyo, will look to progress to the semi-final when she goes in the heats of the event at 10.27am.
Results:
Women 100m Butterfly Heats Ellen Walshe 58.70 (22nd)
Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay, Danielle Hill, Grace Davison, 3:42.67 (16th)
Erin Riordan & Victoria Catterson
Sunday 28th July
10.27am Women’s 100m Breaststroke Heats, Mona McSharry (heat 5/5)
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