ELLIE McCartney is in the fast lane – and accelerating.

Over the weekend at the European Under-23 Aquatics Championships in Samorin, Slovakia, the 20-year-old from Enniskillen made a serious statement, powering to a trio of medals, clocking a new Ulster record, and nudging closer to the global stage with the World Championships in Singapore now on the horizon.

The highlight came in the 200m Individual Medley, where Ellie stormed to gold with a personal best that not only set a new provincial mark but also moved her to second on Ireland’s all-time list, behind only two-time Olympian Ellen Walshe from Dublin.

“I’m definitely excited, I wasn’t expecting it,” Ellie said after that standout swim.

“Coming in I knew I was the fastest seed but I knew the other girls had faster times in them, their PBs were quite a bit faster than mine, so you just get in, race who’s there on the day and get your hand to the wall first.”

Her medal haul continued with bronze in the 100m breaststroke on Saturday before — despite another fantastic PB — she was edged out by just 0.13 seconds in Sunday’s 200m breaststroke final, taking silver behind Denmark’s Clara Rybek-Anderson.

But she’s already looking ahead. With three medals, two PBs and a record-breaking swim under her belt, McCartney now has the World Championships in Singapore next month in her sights.

“Singapore will be a new experience for me,” she said. “Being part of the Swim Ireland team going over there is something I’m really looking forward to.”

“The next Olympics are still three years away so there’s plenty of time to think about that later. Now it’s all about the training and improving my times to make sure I qualify for these major long course (50m pool) events.

“Right now, anything that comes after that, like gold medals at European level to start with, is a real bonus.

“Training well and getting the experience of competing at the World Championships is my next goal. Next year there’s the Commonwealth Games to aim for so there’s still a lot of hard work ahead.”