Ellen Walshe and Mona McSharry delivered a historic night for Ireland in the pool as both reached the podium at the European Aquatics Championships in Paris.
Walshe was crowned European champion in the women’s 400m Individual Medley, winning gold in a new Irish record of 4:34.42. McSharry followed with silver in the women’s 100m Breaststroke, also in an Irish record, touching in 1:05.41.
For Walshe, it was a first long-course international medal and a breakthrough senior European title. For McSharry, already an Olympic bronze medallist from Paris 2024, it was another major championship podium and another sign of her consistency at the top level. Great Britain’s Angharad Evans took 100m Breaststroke gold in a championship record of 1:04.87.
Walshe’s gold came after a superbly paced 400m Individual Medley final. The Templeogue swimmer was sixth after the butterfly leg, moved into third after backstroke, then second after breaststroke before producing the decisive move on freestyle.
Her final 50 metres, clocked at 30.80, proved the difference. Walshe overhauled Great Britain’s Amalie Smith in the closing stages to win in 4:34.42, taking almost a second off the previous Irish record of 4:35.32, which she had set in May 2025. Smith took silver in 4:35.12, with Poland’s Justina Kozan winning bronze in 4:36.47.
Walshe had spoken prior to the European Championships beginning about the mental side of racing and learning to trust the work she had done. In the final, she stayed with her plan, worked through the strokes, and had enough left in the freestyle to finish strongest.
Immediately after the race, speaking to RTE, she admitted the result had not fully sunk in quite yet.
“It hasn’t really hit,” Walshe said. “I can’t really think about it right now because I’m still probably hurting from the race, my calves are cramping.”
She added that the 400m IM is an event where every swimmer has strengths and weaknesses, making discipline central to the race.
“I was delighted to stick to my own plan today and it worked out in the end,” she said.
McSharry’s silver in the 100m Breaststroke continued her own major championship run. The Sligo swimmer lowered her Irish record to 1:05.41, improving on her previous best of 1:05.51. She split 30.66 for the first 50m and came home in 34.75.
Evans was the only swimmer ahead of her, winning gold in 1:04.87, with Italy’s Benedetta Pilato taking bronze in 1:05.89.
“I think I was just so focused on putting together a good race, which I did,” she said. “You can’t be happier than with a PB.”
Her race was built around staying controlled early, then committing to the second 50m. When she turned and saw Pilato beside her, she knew the medal fight was live.
“I was like, right, I gotta go here,” McSharry said. “I don’t know what’s happening behind me, so I was just pushing.”
The silver gives McSharry another European long-course medal and keeps her among the leading breaststrokers in Europe. She returns to the pool on Thursday morning for the heats of the 200m Breaststroke.
Danielle Hill also booked her place in Thursday’s 50m Backstroke final. The reigning European champion advanced eighth overall after a season’s best of 27.85. Italy’s Sara Curtis led the field into the final after setting a new world record of 26.63 in the semi-finals.
Hill said qualifying for the final meant a lot after an injury-hit period.
“I knew there was a swim in there that could make the final,” she said. “It was about getting my hand on the wall.”
The night underlined the depth of Ireland’s swimming team in Paris. Swim Ireland had selected its largest-ever European Aquatics Championships squad for the event. On Wednesday night, that depth showed in medals, finals, Irish records and personal bests.
