IRELAND’s MONA McSHARRY missed out on a place in the 100m breaststroke final at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.
McSharry finished sixth in her semi-final today. After being fourth at the turn, she clocked 1:06.33, finishing as the 11th fastest semi-finalist – outside the final places by just .16 of a second.
McSharry had produced her fastest time of the year to win her heat and secure the top seed for Monday afternoon’s semi-finals. The Olympic bronze medallist in the 100m Breaststroke clocked 1:05.99 for only her sixth time to break 66 seconds in the event, three of those being from the Paris Games and twice at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. The Sligo native was the only swimmer under that mark with Germany’s Anna Elendt next in 1:06.01.
Speaking after her semi-final, McSharry said. “It didn’t feel too bad honestly. I probably felt a little bit better until the last 25 again, and then, you know, it hurt like this morning, but it’s very hard to tell where you’re at in the race for breaststroke, so I was just trying to get my hands on the wall, but sadly it’s just not meant to be.
“That’s just the way it goes sometimes, everyone’s kind of feeling it out in the heats and I had a very good heat swim, like very happy with that, and it is important to be able to kind of produce that in the morning, so that’s a great takeaway. I just didn’t replicate it tonight.
“I just have two days now to kind of just reset my mind and yeah, get back on the train and kind of go through the process again and see what I can do.”
The Paris Olympian will be back on the blocks on Thursday in the 200m breaststroke.
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Meanwhile, Evan Bailey had the swim of his life on his World Championships debut. The National Centre Limerick swimmer equalled Jack McMillan’s 200m freestyle Irish record from the Tokyo Games in 1:46.66. It was Bailey’s first time under 1:47, having come into the meet with a best time of 1:47.04 from the Irish Open in April.
Bailey equalled the 200m freestyle Irish record to progress to the semi-final on his World Championships (LC) debut, finishing seventh in his heat and progressing 15th overall to this afternoon’s semi-final.
Bailey then placed 16th overall in the semi-finals at 1:48.75.
“It was amazing to walk out there,” he said.
“I mean, like the atmosphere and just everyone in the crowd, screaming, I walked out, it was surreal. It was a great to experience it and to get that experience on the world stage, and I’m really grateful to have been in that semi-final. But yeah, my race plan didn’t go to plan, I’m a bit disappointed with that. I’ll have to go back and reassess with my coach on what went wrong there, but then there’s always positives to come back on, to get an experience on that level. It’ll just be good to build on in the future.”
Ellen Walshe was eighth at 2:11.57 in the 200m individual medley final – the Templeogue swimmer’s first World Championship final in the 50m pool.
Having set an Irish record of 2:10.49 in Sunday’s semi-final, Walshe maintained her ranking of eighth touching home in 2:11.57. Gold went to Canada’s Summer McIntosh, her second in as many days.
“I think to be in my first world final tonight, like it’s a huge experience, out against some massive names in a 2IM, but yeah, a little bit disappointed, but sure, roll on to the next one,” Walshe said.
Looking ahead to the 200m butterfly heats on Wednesday, an event back on Walshe’s roster since earlier this year, she added “I don’t really know where it’s going to be. I’ve never raced it internationally at this level, so I’m excited to kind of see where I can get, if it’s a semifinal or I’m not even sure, but yeah, I’m looking forward to it.”
Also, in action this morning, Danielle Hill opened her championships in the 100m backstroke touching in 1:00.79 for a world top twenty place, the Larne swimmer finishing 18th overall, just outside the semi-final places.
Hill returns to the pool on Wednesday for the 50m backstroke heats.
In the Men’s 100m backstroke, John Shortt touched in 54.26, his fourth fastest time ever.
On Tuesday, Daniel Wiffen will start the defence of his 800m freestyle world title in the preliminary round. Wiffen will need to secure a top eight finish to progress to Wednesday’s final. National Centre Limerick’s Jack Cassin will make his World Championships (LC) debut in the 200m butterfly.
The 21-year-old will be looking to better his best time of 1:57.34 from last months European U23 Championships and secure a place in the semi-final.
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Mona McSharry misses out on 100m breaststroke final at World Aquatics Championships
IRELAND’s MONA McSHARRY missed out on a place in the 100m breaststroke final at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.
McSharry finished sixth in her semi-final today. After being fourth at the turn, she clocked 1:06.33, finishing as the 11th fastest semi-finalist – outside the final places by just .16 of a second.
McSharry had produced her fastest time of the year to win her heat and secure the top seed for Monday afternoon’s semi-finals. The Olympic bronze medallist in the 100m Breaststroke clocked 1:05.99 for only her sixth time to break 66 seconds in the event, three of those being from the Paris Games and twice at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. The Sligo native was the only swimmer under that mark with Germany’s Anna Elendt next in 1:06.01.
Speaking after her semi-final, McSharry said. “It didn’t feel too bad honestly. I probably felt a little bit better until the last 25 again, and then, you know, it hurt like this morning, but it’s very hard to tell where you’re at in the race for breaststroke, so I was just trying to get my hands on the wall, but sadly it’s just not meant to be.
“That’s just the way it goes sometimes, everyone’s kind of feeling it out in the heats and I had a very good heat swim, like very happy with that, and it is important to be able to kind of produce that in the morning, so that’s a great takeaway. I just didn’t replicate it tonight.
“I just have two days now to kind of just reset my mind and yeah, get back on the train and kind of go through the process again and see what I can do.”
The Paris Olympian will be back on the blocks on Thursday in the 200m breaststroke.
Meanwhile, Evan Bailey had the swim of his life on his World Championships debut. The National Centre Limerick swimmer equalled Jack McMillan’s 200m freestyle Irish record from the Tokyo Games in 1:46.66. It was Bailey’s first time under 1:47, having come into the meet with a best time of 1:47.04 from the Irish Open in April.
Bailey equalled the 200m freestyle Irish record to progress to the semi-final on his World Championships (LC) debut, finishing seventh in his heat and progressing 15th overall to this afternoon’s semi-final.
Bailey then placed 16th overall in the semi-finals at 1:48.75.
“It was amazing to walk out there,” he said.
“I mean, like the atmosphere and just everyone in the crowd, screaming, I walked out, it was surreal. It was a great to experience it and to get that experience on the world stage, and I’m really grateful to have been in that semi-final. But yeah, my race plan didn’t go to plan, I’m a bit disappointed with that. I’ll have to go back and reassess with my coach on what went wrong there, but then there’s always positives to come back on, to get an experience on that level. It’ll just be good to build on in the future.”
Ellen Walshe was eighth at 2:11.57 in the 200m individual medley final – the Templeogue swimmer’s first World Championship final in the 50m pool.
Having set an Irish record of 2:10.49 in Sunday’s semi-final, Walshe maintained her ranking of eighth touching home in 2:11.57. Gold went to Canada’s Summer McIntosh, her second in as many days.
“I think to be in my first world final tonight, like it’s a huge experience, out against some massive names in a 2IM, but yeah, a little bit disappointed, but sure, roll on to the next one,” Walshe said.
Looking ahead to the 200m butterfly heats on Wednesday, an event back on Walshe’s roster since earlier this year, she added “I don’t really know where it’s going to be. I’ve never raced it internationally at this level, so I’m excited to kind of see where I can get, if it’s a semifinal or I’m not even sure, but yeah, I’m looking forward to it.”
Also, in action this morning, Danielle Hill opened her championships in the 100m backstroke touching in 1:00.79 for a world top twenty place, the Larne swimmer finishing 18th overall, just outside the semi-final places.
Hill returns to the pool on Wednesday for the 50m backstroke heats.
In the Men’s 100m backstroke, John Shortt touched in 54.26, his fourth fastest time ever.
On Tuesday, Daniel Wiffen will start the defence of his 800m freestyle world title in the preliminary round. Wiffen will need to secure a top eight finish to progress to Wednesday’s final. National Centre Limerick’s Jack Cassin will make his World Championships (LC) debut in the 200m butterfly.
The 21-year-old will be looking to better his best time of 1:57.34 from last months European U23 Championships and secure a place in the semi-final.
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Mona McSharry Swimming World Aquatics championships