Jack Kelly Twice Breaks Irish 100m Breaststroke Record to Reach European Final in Paris
Jack Kelly lowered the Irish 100m breaststroke record twice in a single day at the European Aquatics Championships in Paris, swimming 59.27 in the morning heats and then 58.90 in the evening semi-final to book a place in Tuesday's final. BBC Sport
The 23-year-old New York native, who qualifies for Ireland through his mother, was making his international debut in green. He arrived in Paris with a personal best of 59.72, set at the 2026 Irish National Championships in Bangor, where he swept all three breaststroke titles — the 50m, 100m and 200m. Swim Ireland
His heat swim of 59.27 wiped out Darragh Greene's standing Irish record outright. By the semi-final, Kelly had found another gear. He touched second behind Italy's Nicolo Martinenghi, the Olympic champion, who won in 58.67. Kelly's 58.90 put him within 0.23 seconds of the Italian. BBC Sport
The other semi-final saw Great Britain's Adam Ramsay-Peaty — silver medallist at the Paris 2024 Olympics — win in 58.94. Teammate Filip Nowacki took second in 59.03, a 100m breaststroke record for a swimmer from Jersey. The final lines up a tight field: Martinenghi and Kelly from the first semi, Ramsay-Peaty and Nowacki from the second, all separated by less than half a second. BBC Sport
Ireland had other interest on the opening night in Paris. Belfast's Lottie Cullen swam a personal best of 2:12.22 in her 200m backstroke semi-final but finished sixth, not enough to advance. BBC Sport
Great Britain's squad, 36 strong, has already made its mark at these championships. Duncan Scott and Jack McMillan took gold and silver in the men's 200m freestyle, and the British women's 4x200m freestyle relay team won gold in a championship record of 7:45.93. European Aquatics
The 100m breaststroke final is set for Tuesday at 17:48 BST. For Kelly, the arithmetic is simple: another drop of a few hundredths and he is in the fight for a medal. For a swimmer who started the day having never broken 59 seconds, he has already moved into the conversation.
