McCusker fails to advance despite breaking Irish record in swim-off

There was no luck for the Irish swimmers in the heats of the World Aquatic Championships in Doha earlier today.

Max McCusker equalled the Irish record in the 100m butterfly in 52.52 second where he finished joint 16th, which meant he had a swim-off for a place in the semi-final

However despite improving and lowering the national record with a time of 52.31, McCusker lost out to Mathew Sates of South Africa by .51 of a second and failed to progress.

"I'm happy, first time getting a PB (personal best) in that event for two years now, so it was quite emotional," McCusker said afterwards.

"Obviously, I wanted to make the semi-final, but that’s not the focus here so I’m happy with it. I feel like I’m only learning the race again, they are only two times I’ve done it long course since Japan (2023 World Championships)."

McCusker is now just .64 of a second away from the Olympic qualification time of 51.67. The Cork swimmer returns to the pool on Sunday for the heats of the men’s 4x100m medley relay.

Maria Godden was also a little unfortunate as she finished 17th overall and missed a semi-final place by one position in the women's 200m backstroke.

It was her second top-20 finish of the week after20th place in the 100m backstroke on Wednesday.

"I'm happy enough with it, it’s faster than what I was at Flanders (International Meet) two weeks ago by over two seconds, so it’s definitely moving in the right direction," she said.

"February is difficult to produce personal bests, it’s been an amazing experience this time, and if I don’t make a semi this time, there’s always Worlds next year."

Just outside her best of 2:12.19, Godden clocked 2:13.30 and will be first reserve for this afternoon’s semi-final.

Tom Fannon posted a time of 22.23 in the