Daniel Wiffen has set himself up for one last podium push in Paris with a smooth performance in the heats of the men’s 1,500m freestyle at the European Aquatics Championships, while golden girl Ellen Walshe remains poised for more success.Wiffen finished second in his heat in 14:52.29 on Friday morning, the fifth-fastest qualifier across the three heats, progressing to Saturday evening’s final.After finishing fourth in the 800m final earlier in the week, the Olympic 1,500m bronze medallist said he was pleased with how he’s coming along since returning from California three months ago, adding the 1,500m was his main target.“I’m really happy, it was a great put-together race,” said Wiffen. “Some of the skills were bad in terms of double breathing, but that’s okay. It was a heat swim, and I was pretty tired, so happy to get the job done.“I was feeling a bit heavy, so after that it was about sticking with Ollie, let him go towards the end and just swim easy.”His twin brother Nathan finished eighth in his heat in 15:15.67, missing out on the final.Earlier in the session, Walshe returned to action having taken Thursday off to celebrate her gold in the 400m individual medley.She qualified second-fastest from the women’s 200m IM heats, securing a place in Friday evening’s semi-finals.“It’s definitely not easy to wind down from something like that,” she said of her gold-medal win. “The sleep on Wednesday night was definitely rough. On Thursday, I was like, ‘this feels great’, and this morning it was, ‘oh no, this hurts a bit’.“You have to soak it up when it happens and take the moment for what it is. But tonight should be good.”PARIS, FRANCE - AUGUST 14: Ellen Walshe of Ireland competes during Women's 200m Individual Medley Heats on day fifteen of the 2026 European Aquatics Championships on August 14, 2026 in Paris, France. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images) Walshe could face a gruelling Saturday, with the 200m IM final and 200m butterfly semi-finals potentially both on her schedule.“I know the week’s not over, so it is hard to reset the mind,” she said. “But I think we’re back on it this morning.”Ellie McCartney also advanced to the 200m IM semi-finals, but faces a demanding evening as she will first join Mona McSharry in the 200m breaststroke final.“I’m going to have to manage it and make sure the support team around me can help me along the way, to recover well between the two,” said McCartney. “It’s going to be an exciting night for Ireland.”In the women’s 100m backstroke, Grace Davison and Danielle Hill both advanced to the Friday evening’s semi-finals. Despite finishing 17th overall, Lottie Cullen missed out on progression due to the rule that only allows the top two swimmers per nation to progress, Davison clocking 1:01.14 to snatch the second spot by 0.03 seconds.“It’s really cool,” said Davison. “We had three Irish girls in there going for two places, but even to have two making a semi is just insane for Ireland. It’s something to be really proud of.”Jack Cassin also progressed, reaching the men’s 200m butterfly semi-finals. “I’m very happy to scrape in there,” he said. “I’m happy to give it my all tonight and see what I can do.”Jack Kelly, meanwhile, came close to making the men’s 50m breaststroke semi-finals, missing out on qualification by just 0.05 seconds, with Darragh Greene, Adam Bradley and Eoin Corby also failing to progress, while Rosalie Phelan finished 30th overall in the heats of the women’s 50m freestyle.Friday evening – Irish in actionWomen’s 200m breaststroke final: Ellie McCartney, Mona McSharry (5.43pm)Women’s 100m backstroke semi-finals: Grace Davison, Danielle Hill (5.50pm)Men’s 200m butterfly semi-finals: Jack Cassin (6.25pm)Women’s 200m IM semi-finals: Ellen Walshe, Ellie McCartney (6.35pm)