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Shane Ryan finishes 10th in World Short Course semi-finals

Triple Olympian swam an impressive 46.23 seconds in the heats, breaking his Irish record

Ireland's Shane Ryan lowered his own 100m freestyle short course Irish record in qualifying for the semi-finals of the World Championships in Budapest. Photograph: Andrea Masini/Inpho
Ireland's Shane Ryan lowered his own 100m freestyle short course Irish record in qualifying for the semi-finals of the World Championships in Budapest. Photograph: Andrea Masini/Inpho
Wed Dec 11 2024 - 18:26

Shane Ryan broke his own five-year-old Irish record on day two of the World Short Course Swimming Championships in Budapest on Wednesday, before finishing 10th in the semi-finals of the 100m freestyle.

The triple Olympian swam an impressive 46.23 seconds in the heats, knocking .45 of a second off his own 2019 record of 46.68.

The time saw the 30-year-old National Centre Dublin swimmer place third in his heat, advancing to the semi-final in sixth place overall.

Swimming in the first semi-final, Ryan clocked 46.24, just one hundredth of a second off his record, the time saw him finish fourth, having gone from eighth after 25 metres, to leading the race at 75 metres.

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A faster second semi-final saw the first five swimmers under the 46-second mark, making way for only two swimmers from Ryan’s first semi-final in Thursday’s final.

Speaking after the race Ryan said: “It was a great swim, basically the same time, just .01 slower, I definitely swam it a little bit different tonight, but it’s just a lack of racing this year in the 100 free, the last time I did 100 free was long course [50m] at the Olympic Games and the first one was this morning, so look we changed it and I think we capitalised on it a bit more. But it’s just I get better when I race and knowing and understanding my body and how it feels moving through the water efficiently, but still quick.”

The National Centre Dublin swimmer is back in the pool on Thursday for the 50m backstroke. Ryan won Ireland’s first world short course medal in the event in 2018 claiming bronze in 22.76 seconds, an Irish record that still stands.

Joining Ryan in action on Thursday, Ellen Walshe returns after her heroics on Tuesday where she set four new Irish records. Walshe competes in the 100m individual medley, an event she set a new Irish record in already this season, clocking 59.30 at the Ulster Championships in November. Danielle Hill is back in action in the 50m backstroke and Nathan Wiffen in the 400m freestyle, while Jack Cassin makes his World Championships debut in the 200m butterfly.