The whispering chance of a medal gained some voice inside the last length but again it just wasn’t to be, Mona McSharry finishing fifth in the final of the 200m breaststroke, after one of the fastest races of all time.
Swimming in lane one, McSharry only ever had an outside chance in this her least favourite event after the 100m breaststroke, where she’d also finished in fifth place in last Tuesday’s medal showdown race.
So it was that for the second time in four days at these World Aquatics Championships in Doha, the Sligo swimmer had to settle for fifth. No denying the medal winners though as the Dutch favourite Tes Schouten, second in the 100m breaststroke, produced a gun to gold swim to take the victory in a superb 2:19.81, the eighth fastest time in history.
That placed her well clear of Kate Douglass from the US, second in 2:20.91, the Canadian Sydney Pickrem third in 2:22.94. The 22-year-old Douglass last month posted a new American record of 2:19.30, and had already won gold in the 200m medley.
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After turning for the last time in fifth, McSharry very briefly moved into fourth, but that was as close as she got, as Alina Zmushka from Belarus, competing under the neutral flag, came again to take fourth in 2:24.44, with McSharry touching home in 2:24.89.
“This is the first time the 200m breaststroke is really starting to click,” said McSharry. “It’s not the time I wanted, but I think am racing it properly now, and kind of figuring out the right way to do it. It’s just about practice.”
It is the third time now the 23-year-old has finished fifth, after being relegated from second to fifth in the closing metres of the 100m breaststroke at last year’s World Championships in Fukuoka. She is not finished in Doha yet, back inside the Aspire Dome on Saturday morning for the heats of the 50m breaststroke.
“I think that will be fun, another tough turnaround to go straight back into that tomorrow morning, but it’s nice to have the 50m to finish, one length, just splash and dash.”
McSharry made absolutely no secret of her feelings after her 100m breaststroke final, her satisfaction more telling after this one. She was looking to secure a Paris qualification time in the longer event, to go with the 100m breaststroke, but the required 2:23.91 eluded her again, although she will get another chance at next month’s NCAA championships, competing with the University of Tennessee, before turning her attention to Paris, having made the 100m breaststroke final in Tokyo.
After Daniel Wiffen’s stunning gold medal performance in the 800m freestyle on Wednesday, he also returns to the pool on Saturday morning for his heats of the 1500m.
After his 16 lengths of glory in the 800m, the 22 year-old from Armagh is eying up that classic swimming distance double, and pocketing another $20,000 in prize money, which goes to every gold medal winner in the pool.
He’ll have some familiar rivals in Ahmed Hafnaoui from Tunisia, who won the event last year in Fukuoka, although failed to qualify for the 800m final. Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri, the champion from 2015 and 2022, is also looking for another medal after finishing third behind Wiffen in the 800m final.
Wiffen goes in the last of four heats (from 7.47am Saturday morning Irish time), with the final part of the closing session in Doha on Sunday (4.16pm Irish time).
Given his form it is likely Wiffen could challenge his Irish record of 14:34.91, having already finished fourth in this event last year in Fukuoka.
Earlier in Doha it proved to be a bittersweet morning for Max McCusker saw him break the Irish 100 metres butterfly record at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha, only to miss out on the semi-final by one place.
Swimming in the last of the eight heats, McCusker equalled Shane Ryan’s mark of 52.52, set at the Tokyo Olympics, touching home in sixth.
The result also saw the 24-year-old from Cork finish in equal 16th place based on time, with a swim-off then required with South Africa’s Matthew Sates to determine who would get to swim the semi-final.
McCusker came out fighting, swimming his second personal best of the day, and that new Irish record of 52.31, only Sates too the win and secured the last semi-final place, clocking 51.80.
“First time getting a personal best in that event for two years now, so it was quite emotional,” said McCusker. “Obviously, I wanted to make the semi-final, but that’s not the focus here so I’m happy with it. I feel like I’m only learning the race again.
“I feel very confident for the relay, we’ve got a good group of boys so the morales quite high for that, I think we’ll go in there and we can put ourselves in the mix for a final.’
McCusker is just .64 of a second away from the Olympic qualification time of 51.67, and the Dolphin SC swimmer returns to the pool on Sunday for those heats of the men’s 4x100m medley relay.
Maria Godden and Tom Fannon just also missed semi-final places. Godden closed out her first World Championships with a 17th place finish in the 200m backstroke. Just outside her best of 2:12.19, Godden clocked 2:13.30.
In the 50m freestyle, Fannon was just one-tenth of a second outside of the semi-final, touching in 22.23 for 24th place overall.
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