On Monday morning, Mona McSharry qualified for the finals of the 100-meter breaststroke at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. This is the first time in 25 years that Team Ireland will have a swimmer in an Olympic final.
M. Mc Sharry Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
Twenty-year-old swimmer from Grange, Sligo, swims a semi-final in 1:06.59, good enough for fourth place and an eighth-place finish, qualifying for the Olympic final for the first time since 1996.
In her semi-final, she finished behind Lily King of the United States, Tatjana Schoenmaker of South Africa (who set an Olympic Record in the heats), and Martina Carraro of Italy, who owns the World Record in the 50-meter breaststroke.
McSharry, who entered the competition ranked No. 11, advanced three spots to No. 8 after placing Ninth in both the heats and the semi-finals. Her personal best time is 1 minute, six seconds and thirty nine seconds, which is the Irish Senior Record.
The former Sligo resident and current University of Tennessee student won the 2017 FINA World Junior Championship and LEN European Junior Championship in the 100-meter breaststroke, respectively. At the 2018 LEN European Championships, she also won a medal in the 50-meter breaststroke.
McSharry exclaimed, “I couldn’t be happier. I anticipated a challenging process. I can’t tell you how excited I am to get to race again tomorrow.
I got to bed late last night and was a little tired this morning, so it’s hardly surprising that I ran 0.2 slower (than in the heats). The race itself felt better, so now I’m trying to put the two together and swim quickly (in the final).
As an extension, she said, “It’s been incredible. Yesterday, I was eating lunch on my own when Philip, an Irish rower whom I didn’t know at the time, walked over and sat down next to me.
Last Words
That’s great to be able to look around and see other Irish people and sit with them and converse, especially if you don’t have your swimming teammates there with you. One of the best things about being Irish is how closely knit a country can be.
Time in Ireland is 3:17 a.m. on Tuesday, and that’s when the 100-meter breaststroke final will be held. There are still two swimming heats scheduled for Monday for Team Ireland.
- 11:29 Brendan Hyland – 200m Butterfly (Heat 2) – PB 1:56.55
- 11:45 Ellen Walshe – 200m Individual Medley (Heat 4) – PB 2:21.02
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