Ellen Walshe (born 29 September 2001) is an Irish swimmer. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the 100 metre butterfly and the 200 metre individual medley.
Background
Walshe started attending the University of Tennessee in 2021, where she competes as part of the Tennessee Volunteers swim team.
[ "Tennessee Swimming & Diving Roster: Ellen Walshe". Tennessee Volunteers. Retrieved 3 February 2022.]
Career
2015 European Youth Olympic Festival
When Walshe was 13 years old, she won the silver medal in the 100 metre butterfly with a time of 1:02.17 at the 2015 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival held in
Tbilisi, Georgia in July and August 2015.
[Leonard, Stephen (6 August 2015). "Walshe captures silver in European Youth Olympics". Echo.ie. Retrieved 2 February 2022.]
2019 World Aquatics Championships
In July 2019, at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in
Gwangju,
South Korea, Walshe placed 35th in the prelims heats of the 100 metre butterfly on the first day of competition with a time of 1:00.85.
[FINA (21 July 2019). "18th FINA World Championships Gwangju (KOR): Women's 100m Butterfly Preliminary Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 2 February 2022.] Three days later, she placed 19th in the prelims heats of the 4×100 metre mixed medley relay swimming the butterfly leg of the relay in a 1:00.89 and achieving a time of 3:53.69 with her Ireland relay teammates
Conor Ferguson (backstroke),
Niamh Coyne (breaststroke), and Robert Powell (freestyle).
[FINA (24 July 2019). "18th FINA World Championships Gwangju (KOR): Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay Preliminary Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 2 February 2022.]
2020 European Aquatics Championships
On 23 May 2021, at the 2020 European Aquatics Championships held at
Danube Arena in
Budapest,
Hungary, Walshe set a new Irish record in the 4×100 metre medley relay with Danielle Hill,
Mona McSharry, and Victoria Catterson at 4:02.93 and placed 11th overall.
[LEN (23 May 2021). "Hungary 2020 LEN European Aquatics Championships Swimming: Results 4 x 100 m Medley Women Preliminary". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 2 February 2022.] Three days earlier she split a 1:001.18 on the butterfly leg of the 4×100 metre mixed medley relay to help place 13th and achieve a new Irish record time of 3:49.08 with Shane Ryan,
Darragh Greene, and Danielle Hill.
[LEN (20 May 2021). "Hungary 2020 LEN European Aquatics Championships Swimming: Results 4 x 100 m Medley Mixed Preliminary". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 2 February 2022.]
2020 Summer Olympics
At the 2020 Summer Olympics in
Tokyo,
Japan, and delayed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Walshe won her heat, placed 24th overall, and did not advance to the semifinals in the 100 metre butterfly with her time of 59.35 seconds.
[ "Win in 100m Butterfly heat not enough for Ellen Walshe to make semis while Darragh Greene exits 100m Breaststroke". Irish Independent. 24 July 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2022.][ "Ireland's Ellen Walshe wins heat but misses out on semi-finals along with Greene". The42.ie. 24 July 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2022.] In her second and final event, Walshe placed 19th overall in the 200 metre individual medley prelims heats with a time of 2:13.34 and finished eighth in prelims heat number four.
[ "2020 Summer Olympics Results - Swimming: Women's 200m Individual Medley". ESPN. 26 July 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2022.][Omega Timing; Atos (1 August 2021). "Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games: Swimming Results Book" . International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 2 February 2022.]
2021 World Swimming Championships
At the 2021 World Swimming Championships conducted in short course metres and held at
Etihad Arena in
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Walshe set a new Irish record in the 400 metre individual medley with a time of 4:30.78 in the prelims heats, which qualified her for the final ranking fourth.
[FINA (16 December 2021). "15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Women's 400m Individual Medley Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 16 December 2021.][Race, Retta (16 December 2021). "Ellen Walshe Takes Down Irish 400 IM Record From 1994". SwimSwam. Retrieved 16 December 2021.] In the final of the event, Walshe won the
silver medal with a time of 4:26.52, lowering her own Irish record she set in the prelims heats and finishing less than one second after
Tessa Cieplucha of
Canada.
[ "Ellen Walshe: Dubliner wins World Short Course Championship silver medal". BBC Sport. 16 December 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2022.][FINA (16 December 2021). "15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Women's 400m Individual Medley Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 16 December 2021.][Race, Retta (16 December 2021). "Ireland's Tennessee Vol Ellen Walshe Hacks More Time Off 400 IM National Record". SwimSwam. Retrieved 16 December 2021.][McGoldrick, Sean (16 December 2021). "Ellen Walshe wins silver medal in 400m individual medley at World event in Dubai". Irish Independent. Retrieved 18 December 2021.] Her silver medal was the second medal won by a swimmer representing Ireland at a World Swimming Championships and the first one won at the championships in an event held at the
Olympic Games.
[O'Riordan, Ian (16 December 2021). "Ellen Walshe wins silver for Ireland at World Short Course Championships". The Irish Times. Retrieved 16 December 2021.][ "Ellen Walshe wins Silver at the World Championships" . Swim Ireland. 16 December 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2021.]
The second day of competition, in the prelims heats of the 200 metre butterfly, Walshe ranked 14th overall with a 2:08.16 and did not qualify for the final.[FINA (17 December 2021). "15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Women's 200m Butterfly Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 17 December 2021.] In the prelims heats of the 50 metre butterfly on day three, Walshe placed 22nd with a time of 26.33 seconds, not advancing to the semifinals.[FINA (18 December 2021). "15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Women's 50m Butterfly Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 18 December 2021.] On the fifth day, Walshe ranked ninth in the prelims heats of the 200 metre individual medley with a 2:08.69 and achieved alternate status for the final.[FINA (20 December 2021). "15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Women's 200m Individual Medley Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 20 December 2021.] Her time of 2:08.69 set a new Irish record.[Race, Retta (20 December 2021). "Walshe & Wiffen Score Huge New Irish Records On Day 5 Heats In Abu Dhabi". SwimSwam. Retrieved 20 December 2021.] Later in the same prelims session, Walshe qualified for the semifinals of the 100 metre butterfly with an Irish record time of 57.32 seconds that tied her in rank for fourteenth with Margaret MacNeil of Canada.[FINA (20 December 2021). "15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Women's 100m Butterfly Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 20 December 2021.][FINA (20 December 2021). "15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Women's 100m Butterfly Semifinals Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 20 December 2021.]
Walshe's silver medal was one of two medals won by swimmers representing Ireland at the championships, the other was a bronze medal, which made her medal the highest-medal-finish by a swimmer from the country at a World Swimming Championships.[Keith, Braden (21 December 2021). "United States Tops SC World Championships Medals Table For 3rd Straight Edition". SwimSwam. Retrieved 22 December 2021.]
2021–2022 collegiate season
At the Tennessee Invitational in the autumn of Walshe's first collegiate season, also called a freshman year, she swam a personal best time in the 100 yard butterfly with a 50.24, taking first-place and ranking first in the
NCAA in the event for the season, just 0.06 seconds ahead of
Torri Huske.
[Rieder, David (19 November 2021). "Alex Walsh, Mona McSharry, Rhyan White and Ellen Walshe Sizzle at Tennessee Invitational". Swimming World. Retrieved 23 January 2022.] In her first collegiate double dual meet of the 2022 year, Walshe won the 200 yard individual medley in 1:59.19 and placed fourth in the 100 yard freestyle in 50.92 seconds, helping her team, the Tennessee Volunteers, win against
Duke University and Queens University.
[ "Vols, Lady Vols Sweep Double Dual Against Duke and Queens University". Tennessee Volunteers. 8 January 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2022.] Later in the month, Walshe won the 100 yard butterfly with a time of 52.91 seconds and won the 200 yard individual medley in 1:57.47, a little slower than her best time of 1:54.77 for the season, in a dual meet against the University of Georgia to help her team win the meet.
[Rieder, David (22 January 2022). "Luca Urlando Leads Georgia Men to Win Over Tennessee; Ellen Walshe Paces Tennessee Women in Triumph". Swimming World. Retrieved 23 January 2022.] In the same meet, she also achieved a win as part of the 4×100 yard freestyle relay with a final time of 3:20.01.
[Manley, John (27 January 2022). "Dublin's Walshe stings in the butterfly". The Irish Echo. Retrieved 3 February 2022.]
2022 Southeastern Conference Championships
On the first day of the 2022 Southeastern Conference Championships, held in February 2022, Walshe split a 22.93 for the butterfly leg of the 4×50 yard medley relay to help achieve a second-place finish.
[De George, Matthew (15 February 2022). "2022 SEC Championships: Alabama Women, Florida Men Set Relay Marks". Swimming World. Retrieved 15 February 2022.] In the 4×200 yard freestyle relay, she helped win the race for the Tennessee Volunteers, splitting a 1:44.06 on the second leg of the relay.
[Dornan, Ben (15 February 2022). "2022 SEC Championships: Day 1 Finals Live Recap". SwimSwam. Retrieved 15 February 2022.] She ranked first in the prelims heats of the 200 yard individual medley the next morning, swimming a 1:55.02 and advancing to the final.
[Hy-Tek (16 February 2022). "2022 SEC Swimming & Diving Championships: Meet Results" . sidearmstats.com. Retrieved 16 February 2022.][Hamann, Michael (16 February 2022). "2022 SEC Championships: Day 2 Prelims Live Recap". SwimSwam. Retrieved 16 February 2022.] For the final, Walshe swam a 1:52.97, winning the event.
[De George, Matthew (16 February 2022). "2022 SEC Championships, Night 2 Finals: Florida Goes 3-for-3 in Relays". Swimming World. Retrieved 16 February 2022.][Yatooma, Katie (17 February 2022). "Tennessee continues to break records on second day of SEC Swim and Dive Championships". The Daily Beacon. Retrieved 17 February 2022.] In the morning prelims heats on day three, Walshe ranked first in the 400 yard individual medley by over three seconds with a 4:04.26 and ranked second in the 100 yard butterfly in 51.45 seconds, qualifying for the final in both events.
[Hamann, Michael (17 February 2022). "2022 SEC Championships: Day 3 Prelims Live Recap". SwimSwam. Retrieved 17 February 2022.] She won the final of the 400 yard individual medley by 1.83 seconds, finishing in 4:01.53.
[Dornan, Ben (17 February 2022). "2022 SEC Championships: Day 3 Finals Live Recap". SwimSwam. Retrieved 17 February 2022.] Her time of 4:01.53 made her the sixth-fastest female to swim the 400 yard individual medley in the
NCAA as a freshman.
[Keith, Braden (17 February 2022). "Tennessee Freshman Pulls Dirty Double, Wins 400 IM/100 Fly Back-To-Back At SECs". SwimSwam. Retrieved 17 February 2022.] In the 100 yard butterfly final, she followed up her first win of the session with another, this time finishing first in 50.34 seconds.
[De George, Matthew (17 February 2022). "2022 SEC Championships, Day 3 Finals: Ellen Walshe Does 400 IM/100 Fly Double". Swimming World. Retrieved 17 February 2022.] She split a 49.75 for the butterfly leg of the 4×100 yard medley relay on day four, helping achieve a second-place finish in 3:26.88.
[Dornan, Ben (18 February 2022). "2022 SEC Championships: Day 4 Finals Live Recap". SwimSwam. Retrieved 18 February 2022.] On the final day of the Championships, Walshe helped achieve a second-place finish in the 4×100 yard freestyle relay in 3:11.38, splitting a 48.21 for the second leg of the relay.
[Hamann, Michael (19 February 2022). "2022 SEC Championships: Day 5 Finals Live Recap". SwimSwam. Retrieved 19 February 2022.] Winning the 200 yard individual medley, 400 yard individual medley, and the 100 yard butterfly, Walshe became the first woman to achieve the feat at the Southeastern Conference Championships level in history.
[Sutherland, James (21 February 2022). "Ellen Walshe, Luca Urlando Earn SEC Swimmer Of The Meet Honors". SwimSwam. Retrieved 21 February 2022.] Her accomplishments earned her the "Swimmer of the Meet" and Commissioner's Trophy awards.
[ "Gators, Lady Vols win 2022 SEC Championships". Southeastern Conference. 20 February 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2022.]
2022 NCAA Championships
On the first day of the 2022 NCAA Championships, 16 March 2022, Walshe helped place eleventh in the 4×50 yard medley relay, swimming a 23.03 for the butterfly portion of the relay.
[D'Addona, Dan (16 March 2022). "2022 NCAA Women's Division I Championships: Virginia Claims 200 Medley Relay in Meet Record". Swimming World. Retrieved 16 March 2022.] In the second of two events on the first day, she swam a 1:43.48 for the second leg of the 4×200 yard freestyle relay to contribute to a total time of 6:57.79 and eighth-place finish.
[Rieder, David (16 March 2022). "2022 NCAA Women's Division I Championships: Huske, Ruck, Smith, Forde Dominate for Stanford in 800 Free Relay". Swimming World. Retrieved 16 March 2022.] Day two, she advanced qualified for the b-final of the 200 yard individual medley ranking 15th with a time of 1:55.63 in the prelims heats.
[Lepesant, Anne (17 March 2022). "2022 NCAA Division I Women's Championships: Day 2 Prelims Live Recap". SwimSwam. Retrieved 17 March 2022.] Swimming in the b-final, she placed 16th with a time of 1:56.89.
[Hy-Tek (19 March 2022). "2022 NCAA DI Women's Swimming & Diving". swimmeetresults.tech. Retrieved 19 March 2022.] Day three of competition, she started off the morning prelims session ranking third in the 400 yard individual medley with a 4:03.60, then she ranked third in the 100 yard butterfly with a 50.65 and qualified for the final of each event.
[Lepesant, Anne (18 March 2022). "2022 NCAA Division I Women's Championships: Day 3 Prelims Live Recap". SwimSwam. Retrieved 18 March 2022.] She achieved these times and finishes with a gap of 23 minutes between races.
[Berman, Sarah (18 March 2022). "23 Minutes: Ellen Walshe Continues To Wow With Day 3 400 IM, 100 Fly Double". SwimSwam. Retrieved 18 March 2022.] In the final of each event in the evening, she placed eighth, swimming a 4:09.84 in the 400 yard individual medley and a 51.42 in the 100 yard butterfly.
[Lepesant, Anne (18 March 2022). "2022 NCAA Division I Women's Championships: Day 3 Finals Live Recap". SwimSwam. Retrieved 18 March 2022.] For her third event of the evening, she split a 51.20 for the butterfly leg of the 4×100 yard medley relay to help achieve a tenth-place finish in 3:28.75.
In her final event, the 4×100 yard freestyle relay on the fourth and final day, Walshe helped achieve a twelfth-place finish in 3:13.14, swimming the second leg of the relay in 47.76 seconds.
2022 World and European Championships
Walshe was pre-selected to Team Ireland for both the 2022 World Aquatics Championships and the 2022 European Aquatics Championships.
[ "Irish Open Concludes in Dublin; Hill Claims Sixth National Title". Swim Ireland. 23 April 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.] She chose not to compete in the events she qualified in for the World Championships.
[ "19th FINA World Championships Budapest 2022: Athletes IRL - Ireland". FINA. Retrieved 17 June 2022.] Later in 2022, she announced she would stay in Ireland and take online classes to continue her education at the University of Tennessee, however she did not compete for the swim team in the autumn due to chronic
fatigue following the 2022 Southeastern Conference Championships.
[Li, Yanyan (10 January 2023). "Three-Time SEC Champ Ellen Walshe's Status For Spring Semester Still To Be Determined". SwimSwam. Retrieved 14 February 2023.]
Major results
| +Olympic Results
!Year
!100m
Fly
!200m
IM
!400m
IM
!4x100m
Medley Relay |
| 2020 | 24th | 19th | — | — |
| 2024 | 22nd | 13th | 8th | 16th |
| +World Championship Results
!Year
!50m
Fly
!100m
Fly
!200m
Fly
!100m
IM (25m)
!200m
IM
!400m
IM
!4x100m
Medley Relay |
| 2019 | — | 35th | — | — | — | — | 19th |
| 2021 (25m) | 22nd | 9th | — | — | 9th | | |
| 2023 | — | 24th | — | — | 9th | 16th | 13th |
| 2024 (25m) | 14th | 6th | — | 9th | 5th | 5th | — |
| 2025 | | | 8th | | 8th | | |
Personal best times
Short course metres (25 m pool)
|
|
| 100 m butterfly | 56.68 | sf | 2021 World Short Course Championships | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | 20 December 2021 | NR | |
| 200 m butterfly | 2:08.16 | h | 2021 World Short Course Championships | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | 17 December 2021 | | |
| 200 m individual medley | 2:08.69 | h | 2021 World Short Course Championships | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | 20 December 2021 | NR | |
| 400 m individual medley | 4:26.52 | | 2021 World Short Course Championships | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | 16 December 2021 | NR | |
Legend: NR – Irish record; h – prelims heat; sf – semifinal
Short course yards (25 yd pool)
|
|
| 100 yd butterfly | 50.24 | 2021 Tennessee Invitational | Knoxville, United States | 19 November 2021 | |
| 200 yd individual medley | 1:52.97 | 2022 Southeastern Conference Championships | Knoxville, United States | 16 February 2022 | |
| 400 yd individual medley | 4:01.53 | 2022 Southeastern Conference Championships | Knoxville, United States | 17 February 2022 | |
Awards and honours
-
Echo Sports Star of the Year Award nominee: 2021
[ "And the winner of The Echo 2021 Sports Star of the Year Award is…". Echo.ie. 21 January 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2022.]
-
SwimSwam, Swim of the Week: 26 November 2021
[Sutherland, James (26 November 2021). "Swim Of The Week: Tennessee Freshman Ellen Walshe Hits 50.24 100 Fly". SwimSwam. Retrieved 3 February 2022.]
-
Southeastern Conference (SEC), Swimmer of the Meet (female): 2022 SEC Championships
-
Southeastern Conference (SEC), Commissioner's Trophy (female): 2022
-
Southeastern Conference (SEC), Freshman Swimmer of the Year (female): 2021–2022
[ "2022 SEC Swimming & Diving Awards Announced". Southeastern Conference. 13 April 2022. Retrieved 13 April 2022.]
-
Southeastern Conference (SEC), Swimmer of the Week (female): 23 November 2021
[ "Week 6: Swimming & Diving Athletes of the Week". Southeastern Conference. 23 November 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2022.]
-
Southeastern Conference (SEC), Freshman of the Week (female): 25 January 2022
[ "Week 10: Swimming & Diving Athletes of the Week". Southeastern Conference. 25 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.]
-
SwimSwam, Swammy Awards honourable mention, NCAA Freshman of the Year (Women's): 2022
[Keith, Braden (20 March 2022). "2022 Swammy Awards: NCAA Women's Swimming & Diving". SwimSwam. Retrieved 20 March 2022.]
See also
-
List of World Swimming Championships (25 m) medalists (women)
External links
