Ellen Walshe failed to progress from the 100m butterfly heats, finishing seventh in her heat in a time of 58.70 seconds.
The swimming at Paris 2024 got underway today at La Defense Arena, with Walshe going in the second heat of the 100m butterfly.
Ranked seventh in the race, she swam strongly to finish sixth, 2.2 seconds behind the winner, Yufei Zhang of China, who was the fastest qualifier overall.
Walsh was 22nd out of 32 competitors in an event that she wouldn't consider her speciality. She will swim in her favoured 200m and 400m individual medleys later in the week.
Walshe said the time in isolation may have not been her best, but she wasn’t too disappointed in the grand scheme of things.
"It’s not a great time for me, I’ve been 58 consistently, kind of low, this year," she told RTÉ Sport afterwards.
"I think considering I’m racing the 400m on Monday and I have to keep a bit of mileage under my belt, it’s probably not a bad time."
Despite missing out, Walshe said it was still a vital morning’s work ahead of Monday’s 400m individual medley.
"It was nice to get one race out of the way before the main one on Monday.
"It was lovely to get out there and get one race under the belt, enjoy the atmosphere and, I guess, get used to it. It’s pretty electric out there."
🏊♀️ RTÉ #Paris2024 swimming co-commentator Nick O'Hare shares his view on Day 1 for 🇮🇪 @TeamIreland in the pool w/@RafDLeitrim after watching the heats from Ellen Walshe (100m butterfly) and the women's 4x100m freestyle team: https://t.co/Br0dYtJdUX #Olympics #RTESport pic.twitter.com/c2wcTR3yxw
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 27, 2024
The women's 4x100m freestyle relay team of Danielle Hill, 16-year-old Grace Davison, Erin O'Riordan and Victoria Catterson finished eighth in their women's 4x100m freestyle relay heat (16/16 overall).
It was Ireland's first swimming relay team since 1972 and their time of 3:42.67 was less than a second outside the Irish record (3:41.75).
"I've enjoyed every second of it so far," Davison told RTÉ Sport.
"At the start it was definitely a bit overwhelming. Everything is huge, there are so many people.
"Walking past people you'd only ever see on social media or TV, it is pretty exciting.
"I'm just taking it all in and it was really good to get out and race this morning. I really enjoyed it."
🏊♀️ RTÉ #Paris2024 swimming co-commentator Nick O'Hare shares his view on Day 1 for 🇮🇪 @TeamIreland in the pool w/@RafDLeitrim after watching the heats from Ellen Walshe (100m butterfly) and the women's 4x100m freestyle team: https://t.co/Br0dYtJdUX #Olympics #RTESport pic.twitter.com/c2wcTR3yxw
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 27, 2024
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