The men's 4x200m freestyle relay team broke seven minutes for the first time on Sunday afternoon when finishing a hard-fought sixth in the final at the FINA World Short Course Swimming Championships at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
Earlier they became the first Irish team to qualify for a World Championships relay final since 1993.
Jack McMillan, Jordan Sloan, Finn McGeever and Robbie Powell took 21 seconds off the Irish senior record in the semis. The quartet then knocked a further three seconds off in that final to set the new standard at 6:59.54.
Ireland's next final will be on Monday afternoon after Sligo’s Mona McSharry set a fifth Irish record to finish third overall in the 100m breaststroke semi-finals.
McSharry said: "It wasn’t the best put together race. I think the first 25 wasn’t great and it was a bit all over the place from that point. Now, the time is not bad, that’s a good thing. I can improve on stuff and hopefully the time will drop again tomorrow."
Niamh Coyne also swam in the event, setting a time of 1:06.44 and she will return to action on Tuesday for the 200m breaststroke heats.
Danielle Hill was 13th overall in the 50m backstroke, qualifying for the semi-finals, which will take place at 3.19pm, in a time of 27.17.
Calum Bain recorded a personal best 23.46 in the 50m butterfly heats.
Monday morning's heats also feature Ellen Walshe in 200m individual medley and 100m butterfly, relay star McMillan in 100m freestyle and Irish record holder Daniel Wiffen in 1500m freestyle.
🔥 Jack McMillan, Robbie Powell, Finn McGeever and Jordan Sloan are in the Men's 4x200m Freestyle Relay Final!
— Swim Ireland (@swimireland) December 19, 2021
Setting a new Irish Senior Record of 7:02.35, they go through in 6th!
Final ⏰ 15:58 Irish time
LIVE 🔴 https://t.co/xVWcUj9QYi#FINAAbuDhabi2021#TeamArenaIRL pic.twitter.com/qS40s61X73
