By Retta Race on SwimSwam
2024 LEINSTER AGE GROUP & SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Friday, May 3rd – Sunday, May 6th
- National Aquatic Centre, Blanchardstown, Dublin
- LCM (50m)
- Results: Meet Mobile – Leinster Long Course Championships May 2024
The Irish Open Championships/Olympic Trials may not be on the calendar until the end of this month but Ellen Walshe is racing like her Paris 2024 bid is already on the line.
22-year-old Walshe busted out a new Irish national record in the women’s 400m IM while competing at the 2024 Leinster Age Group & Senior Championships in Dublin.
Walshe touched the wall in a massive time of 4:37.94. That not only represented Walshe’s first-ever performance under the 4:40 barrier but it took down the longstanding Irish standard of 4:39.18 Michelle Smith put on the books nearly 30 years ago at the 1996 Olympic Games.
Entering this competition, Walshe’s 400m IM lifetime best rested at the 4:41.30 logged during the 2023 Mare Nostrum Tour.
Flash forward to tonight, however, and she cranked out the following splits to add this Irish record to the one she already holds in the 200m IM. She ranks 15th in the world in the 400m IM.
Between her previous PB and this new record, Walshe attacked the opening 100m, knocking 2 seconds off what she posted in Barcelona. She also sliced significant time off her breast split to register the new mark.
| Walshe’s New Record – 4:37.94 | Walshe’s Previous PB – 4:41.30, 2023 |
| 1:02.51 | 1:04.62 |
| 1:13.09 | 1:13.29 |
| 1:18.03 | 1:20.35 |
| 1:04.31 | 1:03.04 |
Walshe’s outing dips under the World Aquatics Olympic Qualification Time of 4:38.53, however, she’ll need to repeat this caliber of performance at the Irish Open Championships in order to add this event to her Paris 2024 lineup.
She has already punched her Paris ticket in the 200m IM, courtesy of the 9th-place 2:10.92 time she scored at last year’s World Championships.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Ellen Walshe Takes Down Irish 400 IM Record From 1996