An incredible second half of the race won gold for Walshe. At the halfway point, she had been in sixth, 1.58 seconds behind the leader. As she turned for the final length, Walshe had moved up to third before that remarkable last 25m.
It was part of a busy evening for Walshe. 45 minutes after winning gold, she was back in the pool for the 400m individual medley final. It proved too much of a task as she finished seventh. Walshe had been in contention going into the final 100m but faded as they moved to freestyle.
The gold was the seventh medal Ireland has won at these championships. Her second medal added to the two bronze (400m and 800m freestyle) and gold (1500m freestyle) won by Daniel Wiffen, the gold by John Shortt (200m backstroke), and the bronze for Evan Bailey (200m freestyle).