Daniel Wiffen progressed to the final of the 1500m freestyle final, while both Conor Ferguson and Mona McSharry lost out at the semi-final stage as the Irish swimmers enjoyed a successful morning on the penultimate day of racing at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
Wiffen, who set a new European record while finishing fourth in the final of the 800m on Wednesday, finished second in his heat in a time of 14:43.50. The Down swimmer led for most of the race only to be edged out by America's Bobby Finke.
The Irish Olympian will now compete in Sunday's final (12.16pm), where his personal best of 14:34.91 marks him out as fifth fastest in the field.
"I think I'm still going with my aspirations of hitting that World Record (14:31.01), need to get out now, get some recovery done for tomorrow night, 36 hours, get that done and have a good final," Wiffen said afterwards.
"It hurt a little, but I’m holding back still, so still that bit left."
Conor Ferguson, meanwhile, finished 13th overall in the 50m backstroke having reached the semi-final for the first time at the World Championships.
Ferguson had finished fifth in his heat having clocked a time of 24.95 and had a slightly slower time of 25.09 in the final.
"It's kind of a bittersweet feeling because I wasn’t faster than this morning, I was close to my PB but yeah, I’m just taking it all in, experiencing my first semi-final at a world level and at this stage, this year, coming up to the Olympic cycle, I can only take positives from it," he said.
McSharry's individual programme came to an end with an 11th-place finish in the 50m breaststroke.
"A little disappointed with that swim, obviously coming out that's all that’s on my mind now, but yeah I do have to go back and look at the whole meet and really just take a step back," McSharry said.
"This is really something I’ve never done before, I’ve never gotten into three semi-finals at a world level, so that’s something to be really proud of and you know I did the job, I’ve qualified for the Olympics and now I can train for the year and be faster and stronger next year."
The Sligo women had already finished fifth in the final of the 100m breaststroke - guaranteeing an Olympic place.
Earlier this morning, Danielle Hill had her final individual swim of the championships, failing to progress after a time of 25.50 in the 50m freestyle.
She will, however, be part of the 4x100m women's medley relay team on Sunday.
McSharry will also compete in that, as will Ellen Walshe and Victoria Catterson.
Ferguson, meanwhile, will compete in the the men's 4x100m medley relay with Darragh Greene, Max McCusker and Shane Ryan.
The top three teams in these relay finals will confirm places for Paris, with the remaining 13 teams coming from the top times in Fukuoka and the Doha World Aquatics Championships in February 2024.
