Ellen Walshe falls shy of medal in two finals, Wiffen eighth in 800m freestyle

Ellen Walshe closed out an excellent World Aquatics Swimming Championships by finishing sixth and fifth respectively in two finals in Budapest this evening.

The 23-year old Dubliner qualified for the 100m butterfly final with a new Irish record performance last night, following up this morning by qualifying fifth overall in the heats of the 400m medley, the event in which she claimed bronze in Abu Dhabi in 2021.

Walshe was unable to find her way onto the podium this time but produced another fine swim in the butterfly final, clocking a 55.68 time, not far off her Friday evening performance.

To no great surprise, the race was won by America's Gretchen Walsh who set a new world record in yesterday's blistering heat.

In the more gruelling 400m medley - 16 lengths in a 25m pool - Walshe was behind the eight-ball early but finished strongly to place fifth in a time of 4:29.86, with 18-year old Canadian Summer McIntosh claiming gold.

Nathan Wiffen placed eighth in the final of the 800m freestyle.

Wiffen, twin bother of Ireland's Olympic gold medallist Daniel, swam the marathon 32-length race in a time of 7:35.92, finishing 05.36 seconds behind the winner, Hungary's Zalan Sarkany.

Earlier, Shane Ryan was unable to back up his backstroke heroics in the 50m freestyle, the two-time bronze medallist finishing eighth in his semi-final in a time of 21.28, which was 0.21 slower than the new Irish record he posted in this morning's heat.