News

Ireland’s Mona McSharry bowed out of the Women’s 200m Breaststroke at the semi-final stage and closed out the event ranked fifteenth in the world.

McSharry, who was fifth in the 100m Breaststroke Final on Tuesday and has secured an Olympic Qualification Time, started strongly and was in the mix in fifth place at the 150m mark, but a charge from those around her saw McSharry eighth by 200 metres in 2:26.27, faster than her heat swim of 2:26.59 and up one place in the rankings.

Speaking after the race McSharry said ‘I’m confused, I need to see the splits and stuff before I can figure out what happened I guess. It felt better than this morning, but roughly the same time, I’m quite happy with how I’m taking it out I think, so just look at the positives and hopefully build on it and this is just the first opportunity to qualify it (for Paris 2024), so hopefully I can get it before the Olympics rolls around.’

Tokyo Olympic Champion Tatijana Schoenmaker was the top qualifier from the semi-finals in 2:21.31.

McSharry returns to the pool on Saturday for the 50m Breaststroke Heats, a non-Olympic event ‘I’m excited to move to something a little bit shorter, a little bit more relaxed, no pressure really, just get out there and race and do a bit of high intensity stuff before we go for the relay on Sunday, so it should be fun’.

In the Men’s 200m Breaststroke Darragh Greene was just shy of making the semi-final. Greene won his heat in 2:12.21, finishing in eighteenth place overall. Greene is back in action on Sunday for the Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay.

16-year-old John Shortt made his senior international debut in the Men’s 200m Backstroke. Shortt, from Galway, came home under the two-minute mark in 1:59.79 for twenty second place overall. The 200m Backstroke was Shortt’s only event of the Championships, but the National Centre Limerick and Bluefin swimmer will continue preparations in Japan for the LEN European U23 Swimming Championships taking place in Dublin from August 11^th – 13^th.

Victoria Catterson had a solid performance in the 100m Freestyle touching in 55.56, just outside her personal best of 55.21. Catterson returns to the pool on Sunday for the Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay.

Tomorrow will see World Championship debuts for Max McCusker and Tom Fannon; McCusker goes in the 100m Butterfly and Fannon in the 50m Freestyle, while Danielle Hill returns to the pool for the 50m Butterfly heats.

Thursday 27^th July Results

Women 100m Freestyle                                       Victoria Catterson                    55.56 (26^th)

Men 200m Backstroke                                         John Shortt                              1:59.79 (22^nd)

Women 200m Breaststroke                                Mona McSharry                        2:26.59 (16^th)     SF 2:26.27

Men 200m Breaststroke                                      Darragh Greene                       2:12.21 (18^th)