2026 IRISH SUMMER NATIONAL YOUTH & SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, July 21st – Saturday, July 25th
- Sport Ireland National Aquatic Centre, Blanchardstown, Fingal, Ireland
- LCM (50m)
- Meet Central
- Live Results
The penultimate day of racing unfolded at the Irish Summer National Youth & Senior Championships where we saw our second senior national record bite the dust.
Earlier in the competition 28-year-old Tom Fannon fired off a new lifetime best and Irish standard of 21.58 to take the men’s 50m freestyle gold, downing his own former benchmark of 21.74 in the process.
Today it was a woman’s turn, with Ellen Walshe ripping a big-time outing of 2:09.98 to establish a new national record in the 200m backstroke.
24-year-old Walshe’s performance took down the longstanding mark of 2:10.75 Melanie Nocher put on the books at the 2012 European Championships to become the first-ever Irish woman to dip under the 2:10 barrier in the event.
| Walshe’s New Record – 2:09.98 | Nocher’s Old Record – 2:10.75 |
| 31.04 | 30.81 |
| 32.92 | 32.68 |
| 33.00 | 33.59 |
| 33.02 | 33.67 |
Entering this competition, Walshe’s best 200m backstroke performance rested at the 2:10.88 she notched just this past May at the AP Race London International.
The former University of Tennessee standout now owns a remarkable six Irish national records in the long course format.
Ellen Walshe‘s LCM Irish National Records
- 200m free – 1:58.72, 2026
- 200m back – 2:09.98, 2026
- 100m fly – 57.96, 2023
- 200m fly – 2:07.48, 2025
- 200m IM – 2:10.49, 2025
- 400m IM – 4:35.32, 2025
Does Michele Smith still have any records left, or are there still drug tainted ones still there?