LAST UPDATE | 15 Feb

MONA MCSHARRY HOPES to stamp her Olympic ticket in a second event on Friday evening after qualifying for the 200m breaststroke final at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha.

Sligo’s McSharry finished third in her semi-final, and seventh overall, with a time of 2:25.13 — marginally slower than the 2:24.82 she swam to win her heat earlier on Thursday.

The 23-year-old, who narrowly missed out on the medals when she finished fifth in the 100m breaststroke earlier this week, has already booked her Paris place over that shorter distance.

And McSharry is now targeting the Olympic qualification time of 2:23.91 in Friday’s 200m medal race.

“I’m excited,” she said after booking her place in the final.

“That was a little bit slower than this morning, but again, one of my fastest races. Based on how I feel getting out of it, I feel like I put it well together and the last 50 felt pretty strong.

“I think hopefully tomorrow is just about having big guts and kind of pushing to go out a little bit stronger in the first 100.”

She added: “I say it time and time again, but the 200 is a tough one for me, just mentally, and I feel like I approached it well today.

“So, trying to get some good rest and come back tomorrow and really try and hammer down that Olympic qualification would be just amazing, and I think this is going to be a really good opportunity to do it.”

Friday’s final takes place at 4.49pm Irish time.

Later on Thursday, 17-year-old John Shortt set a new Irish record of 1:58.47 in the semi-finals of the 200m backstroke.

Galway’s Shortt, who swam 1:59.27 in the heats, improved on that time in the semis and finished in 14th place overall.

He is now less than a second outside the Paris qualification time of 1:57.50, which he will target at the Irish Olympic Trials in May.

“I was a bit disappointed with the swim this morning because I’ve been training a lot better than what that swim showed, but I think that’s when tonight properly showed what I can do.

“I’m just another inch closer to that Olympic time, which hopefully I’ll have another crack at in Dublin.”

Earlier on Thursday, Victoria Catterson swam a time of 55.44 to finish 19th in the 100m Freestyle.

Eoin Corby took 17th place in the 200m Breaststroke in what was his debut swim at the world championships. He touched the wall in 2:13.10.

– Additional reporting by Sinéad Farrell