The number of Irish swimmers who have now made the consideration time for this summer's World Championships in Japan stands at five after day two of the Irish Open swimming meet at the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin.
Daniel Wiffen and Mona McSharry had already booked their place on the team, and they were joined on Saturday by Ellen Walshe who broke the women's 100 Butterfly Irish record in the heats and the final.
On Sunday, two more swimmers, Tom Fannon and 16-year-old John Shortt from Galway, also dipped below their respective qualification times for Fukuoka.
In the morning heats, 25-year-old Fannon became the first-ever Irish swimmer to get under the 22-second barrier in the men's 50m freestyle.
Competing in the heats of the men’s 100m free, Fannon went out like an express train and recorded 21.95 seconds for the first 50 of his heat.
That time erased the old national record of 22.14, set by Dubliner Barry Murphy at the 2009 World Championships in Rome and that was in the days when the now banned shiny one-piece swimsuits were allowed and when records fell like nine-pence
Fannon’s previous personal best of 22.09 seconds came from the 2018 Commonwealth Games as Fannon represented England internationally prior to switching to Ireland.
Fannon swam hard in that first 50 but slowed down for the back half of the race and missed the chance to lower the mark again in the final.
However, he is entered in the individual 50m free event which is on Wednesday and the plus for Ireland is that Fannon’s time of 21.95 seconds is inside the World Aquatics 'A’ standard needed for this summer’s World Championships.
The second national record of day two fell in the women's 100m breaststroke when McSharry lowered her own Irish best by 0.45 of a second in 1.06.04.
McSharry maybe slightly disappointed not to have broken into the one minute five seconds bracket but the Tennessee-based swimmer is certainly still in top form.
Shortt is also under the FINA A time for the World championships in Japan in the men’s 200m backstroke, going under the time by 0.03 of a second in winning the gold medal in 1.59.23.
When the 16-year-old he realised he had qualified for Japan, Shortt proceeded to thrash the water in delight before acknowledging the applause of the NAC crowd.
In the final race of the night, Max McCusker won the 50 butterfly gold to add to the 100 freestyle title he won earlier in the evening in a respectable 49.78 seconds.
