Walshe faces anxious wait for potential Olympic berth
By Daire Walsh
SHE MAY have produced a stunning performance that saw her swim below the FINA ‘A’ qualification time at the final Irish Olympic qualifiers at the NAC today, but uncertainty still remains over the prospect of Ellen Walshe competing at the Summer Games in Tokyo next month.
In the heat for the Women’s 200m Individual Medley this morning, the Templeogue Swimming Club star registered a time of 2:13.17.
That served to set a new Irish senior record, which the 19-year-old herself later surpassed in the final of this division as she clocked in at 2:12.02.
What makes these performances all the more remarkable is the fact that Grainne Murphy was the previous record holder for all of 12 years.
Walshe’s final time today was 0.44 of a second under the Olympic qualifying time for the event, but, as it stands, she is not yet in line to be put forward by Swim Ireland for ratification by the Olympic Federation of Ireland (OFI) for Tokyo.
This is because priority has been given to the 10 swimmers who were within 1.5% of the FINA ‘A’ time at the first Irish trials that were staged at the National Aquatic Centre in April.
Local swimmers Niamh Coyne (Tallaght) and Brendan Hyland (Knocklyon) were included amongst this select group, who were submitted to the sport’s governing body on June 1.
Because Walshe was not within the time required in those April trials – and thus did not figure on the aforementioned list of 10 – she may miss out on a much-coveted ticket to Tokyo.
That is unless Swim Ireland’s current nomination policy changes in the immediate future.
Yet Walshe, who yesterday set a new national record time of 59.32 seconds in the 100m Butterfly, has certainly done all she can to put herself in the reckoning for selection.