Danielle Hill says her historic success at the European Aquatics Championships is “a really nice confidence booster” for the forthcoming Olympics in Paris.
Hill became the first Irish swimmer to win a long course gold medal in 27 years when she triumphed in the 50m backstroke in Belgrade in a time of 27.73 seconds for the biggest win of her career.
The 24-year-old pipped Theodora Drakou of Greece to the gold medal by just 0.14 seconds while Poland’s Adela Piskorska was third.
After setting the fastest time in qualifying, Hill’s time in the final was narrowly outside her own Irish record.
“I think it’ll take a while to sink in. Five weeks out from Paris that is a really nice confidence booster,” said Hill.
“My main aim was just to iron out anything that needed to be finalised ahead of Paris.
“It’s been 12 years of hard work to get to this point. It’s just amazing.”
The Larne swimmer was fastest out of the blocks and put in a strong final 25m to edge past Drakou and claim the first international win of her career.
The victory means Hill is the first Irish swimmer to win a European long course gold medal since Michelle Smith in 1997.
The European Championships will be Hill’s final event before the Paris Olympics in July, which will be her second Games after competing in Tokyo three years ago.
The county Antrim woman explained that her desire to be a role model for young athletes was a greater motivation even than individual success.
“Money and medals are nice but if I can inspire a kid along the way that will be my job done. It’s probably the main reason I’m in the sport,” she said.