IRELAND has a new European Champion by the name of Danielle Hill following a showstopping performance on night four of the 2024 European Aquatics Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.
Hill etched her name into the Irish swimming history books with a gold-standard time of 27.73 in the Women’s 50 Backstroke Final. Hill’s gold medal is her first international medal and the first Irish female to strike gold in a senior European Championships (50m) in 27 years, it is also the first European Championship medal in a long-course pool since Shane Ryan’s bronze in 2018.
The Larne swimmer headed to the blocks as hot favourite coming through the rounds as top seed in both the heats and semi-final. As the start signal went off, Hill let go of the backstroke ledges the quickest with a reaction time of 0.51, holding onto the lead throughout as she blazed down the water for one length. Hill stopped the clock .14 of a second ahead of Greek swimmer Theodora Drakou to take the European crown.
Following her gold medal winning performance, Hill said: “That was goosebumps right there, I think it will take a while to sink but with five weeks out from Paris it is a really nice confidence boost for me. It was about ironing out anything that needed to be finalised ahead of Paris, it’s pretty nice.”
Hill added: “I’ve a full team at home who I know are a little bit late going into the session because they were all sitting watching me. Everything that Team Larne has created these past years hasn’t been one or two years, it’s been 12 years of hard work to get to this point. Peter (Larne Head Coach) can’t be here but it’s all down to his hard work, he is the man behind all this. ‘
On inspiring younger generations, she added: “I’m so proud, it’s probably the main reason I’m involved in swimming. Money, medals, whatever it is nice, if I can inspire a little kid, male or female, then that will be my job done in this sport.”
“The nerves are still there, I don’t really believe what I’ve done but I’ve a 100m Backstroke tomorrow, so unfortunately, I’ve got to pack this and see what we can do tomorrow morning.”
Danielle recently featured on www.localwomensport.com (below)
