July 09, 2022

Ellie McCartney and Grace Davison both returned to action this afternoon for the semi-finals on day five of the LEN European Junior Championships in the Otopeni Swimming Complex, Romania.

Following an impressive morning swim, Ellie McCartney returned to the blocks for the 100m Breaststroke Semi-Final, McCartney recorded a time of 1:11.31 to finish 14^th place overall, moving up two places from this morning. McCartney can come away from today with a lot of positives, showing great character to make a semi-final following a challenging week, which kept the Ards SC swimmer out of the action.

Speaking after the race, McCartney said: “Going into tonight, I wanted to focus on the technical side, I executed it much better than this morning but unfortunately, the time was pretty similar. It is great to move up the rankings and end up 14^th in Europe. Most people had a week of racing, I only had a day, it’s been a roll coaster of emotions but I’m happy with the result. I didn’t know what to expect and to come back so to come back for the semi-final was great.”

Grace Davison was also in action this afternoon, competing in the 200m Individual Medley Semi-Final. Davison posted a time of 2:19.49 to finish 13^th place overall, swimming .60 seconds faster than this morning and moving up the ranks from 16^th in the heats. Davison will now look forward to representing Team Northern Ireland at the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.

Speaking this afternoon, Davison said: “I had a good meet, hopefully the times will come down a bit just in time for the Youth Olympics and Commonwealths with a taper. It’s an improvement from this morning and 13^th in Europe, so I am pretty happy. The experience this week is definitely different swimming with other countries, it’s a lot harder than swimming in Ireland, and more nerves. It is definitely been a good experience and I can take away positives from it and learn for the next European competition.

The LEN European Championships will come to an end tomorrow, with two more Irish swimmers in action. Grace Hodgins will compete in 400m Freestyle at 8am, while Liam Custer also competes in the same event at 8:29am.

Team:

Evan Bailey New Ross SC

Thomas Leggett Larne SC

Grace Davison Ards SC

Ellie McCartney Ards SC/National Centre Bangor

Liam Custer Sundays Well SC/Sarasota Sharks

Grace Hodgins Trojan SC

Molly Mayne Templeogue SC/Hamilton Aquatics (Dubai)

Day 5 Finals Results:

100m Breaststroke Ellie McCartney, 1:11.43

200m IM Grace Davison, 2:19.49

Day 6 Schedule: