Viola McSharry, mother of Olympic swimmer Mona McSharry, has spoken of the relief and joy when she realised that her daughter had won a bronze medal.
The 23-year-old from Grange, Co Sligo, won bronze in the 100m breaststroke in Paris on Monday night.
“We were watching it the whole way, but it’s just like something that happens in slow motion beside you. It’s a weird feeling. It’s too hard to describe,” she told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland. “It could have gone any way. And it was just absolutely fantastic. And she got there in third position.
“It’s extraordinary. She was very often on the other side where she was number four and it’s a bad place to be even if you’re in the final, but she’s done it this time and we’re so proud of her.”
[ Mona McSharry wins brilliant Olympics bronze in 100m breaststrokeOpens in new window ]
It had been a special moment, she said, adding that Mona and the entire family were thankful for the “huge amount of support” she had received from the people of Ireland.
“The amount of messages that are coming in is just unreal. The Irish people are really, really good at supporting their own. And last night we felt that.”
Back home in Grange, Co Sligo, Mona’s grandfather Patrick McSharry told RTÉ: “We’re so proud of her and all the hard work she put in over the years, many a hard morning in the frost and snow she went swimming, so all here in Grange is so proud. If I could give her a message right now I would give her a big hug and tell her how proud I am.” Mona’s aunt Patricia Doonan said she was a “really proud auntie”.
“I am just elated, I feel like I did the swim myself. I’m just so delighted for her, it’s amazing, such an achievement. She’s dreamed of this since she was a little girl. But, you know, we hear these things being said, and just the reality of it is just so much more amazing. We’re so proud, she’s just our hero.”
The Olympics had always been Mona’s dream, added her uncle John McSharry. “What’s really special about what Mona has achieved is that she started swimming in a 25m pool and in that time maybe over 10 or 12 years she managed to become the European Junior Champion and the World Junior Champion out of a 25m pool, so it’s just astonishing what she’s achieved,” he said.
“I think she has gut determination and resilience and I’m very, very proud of everything she’s achieved, so well done Mona.”
The chief executive of Swim Ireland, Sarah Keane has spoken of the incredible support for Irish athletes participating in the Olympic games from Irish fans to delegations from other countries.
For a small nation there was a lot of talent and ambition in Ireland, she told RTÉ radio’s Today show.
“Swim Ireland, Mona, her family, her club, her coaches, everybody’s been working towards this for a long time. And it was completely embraced by the whole world swimming community. I had people coming over from Australia, from the US, from other nations, European nations coming over congratulating everybody. People revel in seeing somebody else, who’s been on that journey actually get onto the podium in Olympic Games because this is such a global event.”
Ms Keane paid tribute to Mona McSharry’s hometown, her club, club coach and all who had supported the swimmer during her junior years.
“We need to have that in local facilities, local areas, that we give that support to our athletes. Swimming is an early to mid specialisation sport, which means in a lot of cases they do need that support and that pool time at a younger age. So we are working with the government on a national swimming strategy, which is going be launched the next couple of months, which looks at what infrastructure we have in this country for swimming and for pool swimming, both for kids to learn the life skill of swimming and then for those with that potential to enjoy competitive swimming, and for those who might go on to where Mona is to do that as well.
“And then you’ve got the whole sports, sports science, nutrition and international competition exposure. Mona has been competing internationally since her teens and you have to be able to do that. You have to learn to deal with that atmosphere, deal with the pressure that brings, deal with everything that could go wrong or right at those events and just manage yourself through that.
“So you need to have that exposure and that requires investment. The Government signed up to a national sports policy in 2018. It’s a 10 year policy where they agreed to triple the high performance funding.
“Because we were way behind, we were way behind our peers. When we look at other countries and other nations, they have been brilliant at actually delivering on that investment. We obviously want to keep them accountable to that. But high performance results are directly correlated to high performance funding.”
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