MONA MCSHARRY has set a new Irish record, after finishing fourth in the 50m Breaststroke Final at the 15th FINA World Short Course Swimming Championships in Abu Dhabi today.
The Sligo swimmer set a new Irish senior record of 29.65 in the semi-final and improved with a time of 29.59 in the final.
There was frustration in another sense, however, as McSharry missed out on a medal by just 0.04 seconds.
Israel’s Anastasia Gorbenko won gold, ahead of Italy’s Benedetta Pilato and Sweden’s Sophie Hansson, who claimed silver and bronze respectively.
Speaking afterwards, the University of Tennessee-based Irish athlete said: “I can’t but be happy with a PB, and I progressed through the rounds, which is great to see of course. Fourth is gut-wrenching, but if you look at it the other way, I was fourth. That’s not horrendous.
“It’s definitely something to improve on and I do love racing the 50, it sets me up really well for the rest of the week, and I can’t dwell on it now. I just have to move on and do better later on.
“Any one of those eight could have touched the wall first. With any 50, that’s just the way it happens. Any little thing can go wrong. At Europeans, I managed to get a medal from lane eight. The three that got it today were just the best in the moment.”
Today’s feat continues a good year for McSharry, who competed at Tokyo this summer and became Ireland’s first Olympic swimming finalist in 25 years when advancing to the 100m Breaststroke Final.
The 21-year-old is not done yet in Abu Dhabi, with the 100m Individual Medley (Saturday) and the 200m Breaststroke (Tuesday) among the events still to come.
Friday Afternoon Finals Results:
50m Breaststroke
Mona McSharry – 29.59 – 4th
Friday Morning Heats Results:
200m Freestyle – Top 8 go to Final
Jack McMillan – 1:43.13 – 11th
Jordan Sloan – 1:46.50 – 28th
100m Freestyle – Top 16 go to Semi-Final
Danielle Hill – 54.98 – 31st
100m Butterfly – Top 16 go to Semi-Final
Brendan Hyland – 51.79 – 35th200m Butterfly – Top 8 go to Final
Ellen Walshe – 2:08.16 – 14th
Saturday Morning Heats Schedule – Starts 05:30
Ellen Walshe – 50m Butterfly
Mona McSharry – 100m Individual Medley
Calum Bain – 50m Freestyle
Sunday Morning Heats Schedule – Starts 05:30
Danielle Hill – 50m Backstroke
Mona McSharry & Niamh Coyne – 100m Breaststroke
Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay
*All times are Irish. Abu Dhabi = +4hrs
Find the full Irish schedule at Swim Ireland FINA World SC Swimming Championships 2021
