Mona McSharry added her name to a list of Irish European Medallists last night as the 19-year-old claimed 50m Breaststroke Bronze at the European Short Course Swimming Championships in Glasgow in an Irish Record time of 29.87.
McSharry, who was a semi-finalist in the 50m Breaststroke at this event in 2017, clocked 30.51 in this morning’s heats to progress to the semi-final in eighth place overall. Swimming in the first semi-final, McSharry lowered that time to 30.31 to finish fourth and in eighth place overall to secure a place in lane eight in the final. Just an hour later the Marlins swimmer from Sligo took to the blocks, smashing her way through her own Irish Record of 30.19, for a Bronze medal.
A delighted McSharry commented ‘I’m just over the moon, there’s no better way to start a competition than getting a medal especially when it’s not something you intended to get going into the race. It really sets me up well for this week mentally, I’m really positive and just happy’
McSharry who has been competing in Ireland’s Fittest Family will compete in today’s 100m Individual Medley where she is the current Irish record holder in 1:00.34.
Danielle Hill continued her record-breaking trend, smashing Melanie Nocher’s 2011 Irish Senior Record in the 100m Backstroke by .68 of a second. The Larne swimmer, who broke the 50m Freestyle and 50m Backstroke Irish Records last month, added the 100m to her resumé in 58.62 seconds.
Ireland will have another busy day at the pool today Thursday with 16 individual races and a relay swim. While Greene, Hill and McSharry are back in action, Jordan Sloan, Shane Ryan and Maria Godden make their individual debuts at the event.
Coverage of all the heats and finals over the next four days is being broadcast on the RTÉ Player. It’s worth a look just to see the quality of production that is going into these Championships, as well as the talent of the swimmers.
Image credit: Billy Stickland, Inpho.ie
