Danielle Hill broke her third Irish record in as many days on Thursday, Dec. 7, continuing her impressive form at the European Aquatics Short Course Swimming Championships. Hill, who broke the Irish 50m freestyle record twice on Tuesday, set a new Irish standard of 26.59 in the heats of the 50m backstroke, winning her heat and progressing to the semi-final in third place overall.
The Larne swimmer had held the previous Irish best at 26.74 from the 2019 edition of the European Championships.
Hill, who finished ninth in the 50m freestyle semi-finals on Monday, just missing out on a final place, said, "I think the main thing this morning was trying to get through, I ran with the disappointment of the first day, missing out on that final, and you know I don’t want to be in that position again, so trying to cement myself within the top eight as I go through the rounds. But yes, I’m happy with this morning and got to go again tonight."
Hill put in another fantastic performance in the 50m Backstroke semi-final and was just on the inside of her record, clocking 26.62, to finish fourth in her heat and sixth overall to progress to tomorrow’s Final.
Speaking after the race Hill said, "It’s nice to be on the right side of it this time and I can now look forward to the 100m (backstroke heats) tomorrow and carrying a little bit of that speed into it, so yeah I’m excited and I just want to get going again to be honest."
Hill will be back in Friday morning in the heats of the 100m Backstroke ahead of the 50m Backstroke Final in the evening.
