Ellen Walshe

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.^[8]

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.^[9] 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).^[10]

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.^[11] 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.^[12]

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.^[13][14] 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.^[15][16]

2021 World Swimming Championships

Quick facts 2021 World Championships ...

2021 World Championships
	400 m medley	4:26.52 (NR)

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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.^[17][18] 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.^{[3][19][20][21]} 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.^[2][4]

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.^[22] 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.^[23] 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.^[24] Her time of 2:08.69 set a new Irish record.^[25] 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.^[26][25] In the semifinals of the 100 metre butterfly, Walshe ranked ninth and attained first alternate status for the final with an Irish record time of 56.68 seconds.^[27]

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.^[5]

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.^[28] 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.^[29] 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.^[30] 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.^[30][7]

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.^[52] She chose not to compete in the events she qualified in for the World Championships.^[53] 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.^[54]

Relays

Legend: NR – Irish record; h – prelims heat; sf – semifinal