Hill sets new Irish backstroke record at McCullagh International

The penultimate day of the 2024 McCullagh International concluded in similar fashion to the previous night as Danielle Hill continued to steal the headlines setting a new Irish senior record.

Larne's Hill continued to perform impressively setting a new standard of 1:00.16 in the 100 Backstroke Final; shaving .02 of a second off her record of 1:00.18, set at the 2021 Irish Olympic Trials where she qualified for Tokyo 2020.

The 24-year-old has her sights firmly on the Irish Olympic Trials in May as she vies for a seat on the plane to Paris, where she will need to be the first Irish swimmer to break the one minute mark in the event with the Olympic Qualification Time set at 59.99. Ellen Walshe (Templeogue) and Lottie Cullen (National Centre Ulster) shared the silver medal in the event, both stopping the clock at 1:01.90.

The Men’s 800 Freestyle got evening proceedings underway in Bangor with Denis O’Brien (National Centre Limerick) coming home in 8:30.62 to claim gold; achieving the criteria to be considered for an invitation to the European Aquatics Junior Open Water Championships this summer. Trojan swimmer Baltazar Allende clocked 8:34.99 to claim silver with bronze going to Daragh Horgan (National Centre Limerick) in 8:41.01.

John Shortt was the only swimmer to dip under the 26 second mark in the 50 Backstroke, stopping the clock on 25.72 to finish first. David O’Loughlin (Tallaght) was second with 26.47, while Dolphin swimmer Charlie Cassidy was in third (26.66).

The 400 Freestyle Final followed with Victoria Catterson dominating, the National Centre (Dublin) swimmer came home in 4:17.90 to claim gold. Rebekah Friel (Trojan) was second in 4:21.44 and in third place was Mary Lily Doyle (Kingdom) with a time of 4:28.90.

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