Wiffen into 1500m final at European Championships

Daniel Wiffen is through to the 1500m freestyle final at the European Aquatics Championships in Paris. Wiffen, who claimed Commonwealth Games' silver over the distance, finished in 14:52.29 for second place in his heat behind Germany's Oliver Klemet [14:48.51]. It was enough to see the Magheralin man through in sixth overall as he produced a controlled performance to book a return for Saturday evening's final. The 2024 Olympic gold medallist admitted it was a challenge in hot conditions but was satisfied with his performance after missing out on a medal in Wednesday's 800m final. "I'm really happy, it was great put together race," the 25-year-old said. "Some of the skills are pretty bad in terms of double breathing, but that's ok, it was a heat swim, I was feeling pretty tired, so happy to get the job done." Enniskillen's Ellie McCartney faces a busy Friday evening as she goes in the women's 200m breaststroke final and 200m individual medley semi-finals. The 21-year-old finished 12th overall in the individual medley heats with a time of 2:13.95 to reach the semi-finals, but before that she will go up against Ireland team-mate Mona McSharry in the breaststroke final. That race is due to begin at 17:43 BST.