Larne's Danielle Hill double delight with Irish record and Olympic time

By Patrick Van Dort
Published 25th May 2024, 21:24 BST
Updated 25th May 2024, 21:39 BST
Northern Ireland's Danielle Hill. (Photo by Oli SCARFF/AFP)Northern Ireland's Danielle Hill. (Photo by Oli SCARFF/AFP)
Northern Ireland's Danielle Hill. (Photo by Oli SCARFF/AFP)
Larne swimmer Danielle Hill was left “absolutely over the moon” after a successful Saturday at the Irish Open Championships which finished with a national record and Olympic Games qualification time.

Having secured a seat for Paris earlier in the week across the women’s 100m backstroke, it was Dublin delight again when a time of 24.68 confirmed a spot as Ireland’s fastest-ever female in the water over the 50m freestyle.

The 24-year-old had previously set the Irish record time of 24.95 across the earlier heats before managing to lower that later in the day.

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“I am absolutely over the moon, I’m not quite as emotional as day one,” said Hill on the Swim Ireland website. “I had a little bit more fun tonight with that, there was a massive crowd down to see me so I couldn’t disappoint them.

"I just had a bit of fun and swam without stress or pressure and I think that’s what made the difference.”

Lottie Cullen of National Centre Ulster added the women’s 200m backstroke gold to her previously-won 100m backstroke national title thanks to a time of 2:14.10.

In the men’s 200m individual medley final, Bangor’s Lachey Reed proved the winner in 2:07.99 as National Centre Ulster’s Adam Colgan finished third.

On Sunday, Ards’ Grace Davison and Victoria Catterson of Belfast will clash in the women’s 200m freestyle Super Final.

Related topics:LarneParisBelfast

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