Noè Ponti made a fine return to 200m butterfly racing on the final day of Swiss nationals in Uster with a 1:56.15 victory that marked his second title at the meet, after gold in the 50 'fly and silver in the 50 breaststroke

His winning effort left Ponti 2sec shy of the 1:54.14 Swiss standard he set for fifth place in the Paris 2024 Olympic final a little over a second shy of the podium.

National teammate Roman Mityukov made it a backstroke sweep to end his campaign  with victory in the 100m on 53.43, just 0.11sec shy of his Swiss mark from 2023 World titles, his 53.32 matched on day 1 in Uster when he led Geneva's medley relay team. In the dash, he clocked 25.10, then raced to a 1:55.36 win over 200m just 0.53 shy of his Swiss record from Singapore 2025 Worlds.

Ellen Walshe Makes It Five Golds As Irish Opens Ends In Bangor

Ellen Walshe made it five titles with a 200m medley victory on the closing day at the Irish Open and Commonwealth Games Trials in Bangor this evening.

Already crowned champion in the 100m and 200m butterfly, 400m freestyle and 400m medley, Walshe, of Templeogue, kept Limerick's Ellie McCartney at bay by a whisker to win 2:13.51 to 2:13.57, both inside the cut for the European Championships in Paris this summer.

Speaking after the race Walshe said: "It's been a great meet, it’s great to be up here (in Bangor), I think we’ve had a fantastic meet, myself and Templeogue, it’s been great to be here.’

The last evening also witnessed yet another Irish record from Limerick's Jack Cassin - on 2:01.00 in the 200 medley inside Brendan Hyland’s 2019 mark of 2:01.52 - as he sped to his third crown, while Olympic 800m champion Daniel Wiffen also made it a triple of victories (400, 1500m), with a 7:58.08 in the 800m free, and Danielle Hill and Clare Custer rounded out the Championships with a brace of titles apiece.

Cassin said: "I’m quite ecstatic, I don’t train a lot of IM anymore, so it’s sort of a fun event for me, so to finish this competition off with quite a big pb, an Irish Record, at least I can take one off Brendan (Hyland), he still has the 200 Butterfly, but no I’m very happy with it."

Swim Ireland noted: "Over the course of the week, Irish swimmers set seven Irish Senior Records, two Irish Junior Records and ten Championship Records. In total, 22 swimmers recorded 48 consideration times for the European Aquatics Championships, while six swimmers achieved 14 consideration times for the Commonwealth Games. Five swimmers also met the qualification standards for the European Aquatics Junior Championships."

Performance Director Andy Reid commented:

"We said coming into this meet it would be an important point in the season, a chance for athletes to put themselves in contention for international selection and show they can deliver when it matters. That’s exactly what we saw across the week.  A strong number of athletes hit consideration times for international teams, and there were also several championship and Irish records, which really highlights the depth and quality of performances right now. Overall, it’s a very encouraging place to be heading towards the major international meets, with athletes stepping up and producing lifetime bests and season’s bests at the right time. Congratulations to athletes and coaches on a very successful Championships."

 Team announcements for Summer International Meets will take place at the end of April.

Day 5 Podiums at a Glance:

Female 1500m Freestyle: 1^st F Lewis Loughborough 16:54.50 (commemorative) 1^st C Custer Sundays Well 16:54.77 2^nd E Hand Bangor 17:51.01 3^rd A Rock Templeogue 18:00.24

Open 800m Freestyle: 1^st D Wiffen Larne 7:58.08 2^nd N Wiffen Larne 8:12.68 3^rd L Custer Sundays Well 8:17.36

Female 50m Freestyle: 1^st D Hill Larne 25.27 2^nd G Davison Ards 25.49 3^rd R Phelan National Centre Ulster 25.56

Open 50m Freestyle: 1^st M Hamilton Lisburn City 22.75 2^nd O Tebite NAC 22.93 3^rd D Registe Lisburn City 22.96

Female 200m IM: 1^st E Walshe Templeogue 2:13.51 2^nd E McCartney National Centre Limerick 2:13.57 3^rd M Clayton Byrne Limerick 2:19.33

Open 200m IM: 1^st J Cassin National Centre Limerick 2:01.00 2^nd J Armon Banbridge 2:01.83 3^rd T Wilkinson Banbridge 2:08.70

Henry Allan An Aussie Backstroke Breakout To Reckon With

Henry Allan, coached by John Jordan, took down former double World champion and Olympic medallist Mitch Larkin’s Australian 17-years 200m backstroke mark with a 1:57.56 in heats of the 200m backstroke an Australian Age Nationals on the Gold Coast - and then went further still in the final: a 1:57.00 sank the 26-year-old Australian All-Comers 17 years record set at 1:57.35 in 2000 by Aaron Peirsol (USA) for Olympic silver behind teammate Lenny Krayzelburg at Sydney 2000, four years before he claimed gold in both the 100 and 200m at Athens 2004.

Larkin, 2016 Olympic silver-medallist in the 200m backstroke, and two-world champion in 2015, paid plaudits to Allan on social media, posting:

“Unreal swimming Henry – the future is looking very bright.”

Also in the April Vortex:

• Haughey & Sjöström Split By 0.02 As Impact Of Liebmann's Leap Lingers
• Shortt Sets Another Irish Record: 1:55.7 200 back In Bangor
• Mityukov Rattles His Swiss 200 Back Mark After Matching His 100m Record At Nationals in Uster
• All The 2s For No1 As Mona McSharry Sets 2:22.22 Irish Record at Bangor Nationals
• Mollie O'Callaghan Goes Sub-1:54 For Record 10th Time
• Wiffens Back From Across The Pond For Irish Open Action
• Distance Brace For Pallister & Short
• Clareburt Crushes Kiwi 200 Free Mark
• Mona McSharry Not Done With LA2028 California-Dreaming
• Tunisian Switches To Swim For Saudi After Easing Of Nationality Rule
• Federica Pellegrini & Matteo Giunta Welcome Rachele, Daughter No2
• Jane Asher Still Setting Global Standards At 95
• April 1: Peaty & Main Plot Unexpected Tilt At Olympic 50m Free
• FORUM: May One Seismic Shift On Olympic Heights Follow Another