It has been triumphant week for Irish swimming, and one of the standout performers from the European Short Course Championships in Poland is setting her sights even higher.
Team Ireland plundered seven medals in six days to mark a hugely successful showing in Lublin with Daniel Wiffen, John Shortt, Evan Bailey and Ellen Walshe all getting on the podium.
Walshe was the final Irish competitor to medal, becoming the first Irishwoman to win a European short course title with gold in the 200m butterfly, adding to her silver in the 200m individual medley the day previous.
In a storming finish to Sunday's final, she powered through the field from fifth to touch the wall ahead of Denmark's Helena Rosendahl Bach and the Italian Anita Gastaldi.
Reflecting on her achievements in Poland, the 24-year-old said her recent impressive form – Walshe was the top seed in all three of her events – meant she had more self belief ahead of the meet.
"Coming away with a gold medal, it's amazing," she said on RTÉ's Morning Ireland.
"It could have went any way. It came down to the last 10m. I guess I have to back myself. I had confidence coming in that I could place on the podium."
The gruelling nature of the competition schedule meant Walshe was back in the pool 45 minutes later for the 400m IM final.
Despite a bright start – she sat in second at halfway – the exertions took their toll and Walshe had to settle for seventh.
"It didn’t really work out in my favour, the schedule," she admitted. "I felt okay, but I made a mistake in one of the turns and kind of thought it was over then. I just lost my concentration."
While the dust settles on a hugely successful championships from an Irish perspective, the bigger picture is the Los Angeles Games in 2028.
Poland was a staging post along the way, with the European Aquatics Championships in Paris next summer the next litmus test for Irish swimmers harbouring Olympic ambitions.
"The short-term aim is the Europeans in the summer," she said. "Hopefully we will have another exceptional Irish team going over there as well to pick up a bit more bling bling.
"The focus will be next summer and while I don’t like to look too far into the future, yes I would like to see myself on the LA team."
