SWIM IRELAND - Mona McSharry 8th in Olympic Final

Tuesday morning saw Mona McSharry compete in Team Ireland’s first Olympic swimming final for 25 years, with a third sub 67s swim in a row in the Tokyo 2020 100m Breaststroke event giving her 8th position overall.

The 20-year-old from Grange in Sligo, who won gold in 100m Breaststroke at the 2017 FINA World Junior Championships, had set no outcome expectations for her Olympic debut, aiming for lifetime best performances whilst at the Games

She attacked each round, earning her place in the Olympic final alongside World Record holder Lily King and Olympic Record holder Tatjana Schoenmaker. Then from lane eight in the final, the University of Tennessee swimmer again raced strongly to touch the wall in 1:06.94 in her first Olympic event, having entered the 100m Breaststroke event ranked 11th.

The final was won by 17-year-old Lydia Jacoby from the US, with Schoenmaker taking silver and King earning bronze.

100m Breaststroke is McSharry’s main event at Tokyo 2020, but she will also compete in the 200m Breaststroke, starting in Heat 1 on Wednesday morning. She will be aiming to reset her personal best time of 2:25.92, set at the Irish National Team Trials in April.

McSharry said: “It’s amazing, thinking about it like that, that there hasn’t been anyone else who has done this in 25 years, I think it puts it into perspective. For me, racing in it is just another final - but it really is a lot more than that. It makes me feel so proud that I made it there."

She added: “To see all the people who are even staying awake at 3am in the morning to watch me race, it kind of just shows that there is huge support behind me and they really care and that’s amazing, I really do want to say thank you to everyone for that. It really does mean the world.”

Still to come on Team Ireland’s swimming schedule on Tuesday morning are Olympic debuts from Daniel Wiffen in the 800m Freestyle and from Finn McGeever and Jack McMillan, who, alongside Brendan Hyland and double Olympian Shane Ryan, will compete in the Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay.

Darragh Greene also returns to the Tokyo Aquatics Centre for the 200m Breaststroke heats, having finished 29th in 100m Breaststroke is his Olympic debut on Saturday.

Full results: Swimming - Final Results (olympics.com)

Schedule, Tuesday – July 27

11:53 Darragh Greene - 200m Breaststroke (Heat 5) - 2:10.05

12:07 Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay (Heat 2) – PB 7:12.73

12:36 Daniel Wiffen – 800m Freestyle (Heat 3) – PB 7:52.86

Jessica Lamb Communications Executive SWIM IRELAND

 

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