Hyland and Walshe help to set Irish senior relay records at European Championships

By Daire Walsh

It was a busy morning at the LEN European Aquatics Championships for Brendan Hyland and Ellen Walshe in Budapest as the local swimmers helped to set new record national times for Irish senior relay teams.

Knocklyon native Hyland and his team-mates - Shane Ryan, Darragh Greene and Jack McMillan - clocked 3:34.62 in a 4x100m Medley Relay heat, surpassing the record of 3:35.23 that had previously been set at the 2019 World Championships in Gwanju, South Korea.

Knocklyon Swimmer Brendan Hyland will compete again in the final this evening

More importantly, their third-place finish ensures Hyland will once again hit the pool this evening (approximately 6.11 Irish time) for this division’s final.

No Irish swimming relay team had reached the Olympic Games since 1972 and this gifted quartet will begin tonight’s decider in fifth as they aim to reverse this particular statistic.

Ellen Walshe and fellow competitors comfortably bettered the record that stood for three years but unfortunately missed out on the final eight

Emotions were somewhat mixed for Walshe and her fellow competitors - Danielle Hill, Mona McSharry and Victoria Catterson - in the Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay.

Whereas the previous Irish female record in this category stood at 4:12.29 for three years, Walshe and the remaining triumvirate of swimmers comfortably bettered this time by finishing at 4:02.93.