Mona McSharry capped off an incredible year in style, as she set a new Irish record on her way to a fifth place finish in the 100m breaststroke at the European Short Course Championships in Copenhagen.
An outstanding performance from the 17-year-old saw her finish just two tenths of a second away from the bronze medal in an Irish record time of 1:05.01, breaking her own record of 1:05.27, in what was her first final at senior international level.
Afterwards McSharry said: “It was unbelievable, even to walk out there and the crowd was going crazy and that whole atmosphere, that’s why I do this, because I want to be in those finals and I want to be doing as good as I can. I got a pb (personal best) and a new Irish senior record so it’s unbelievable really.”
Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte won the event, adding 100m breaststroke gold to her 50m Gold from earlier in the week in a time of 03.79. Finland’s Jenna Laukkanen was second in 1:04.25 with Jessica Vall Montero of Spain claiming bronze in 1:04.80.
McSharry returns to the pool on Sunday for the 200m breaststroke heats where she’ll be looking to close in on Fiona Doyle’s Irish Record - the only junior and senior Breaststroke record McSharry doesn’t currently hold.
Day four results:
100m breaststroke Mona McSharry H 1:05.36 (2nd) SF 1:05.40 (8th) F 1:05.01 (5th) ISR
50m butterfly Conor Brines H 23.51
Brendan Hyland H 24.11
50m backstroke Danielle Hill H 28.02
100m freestyle Jordan Sloan H 47.84 ISR
Calum Bain H 48.29
100m IM Conor Ferguson H 55.41
Day 5 schedule:
50m Freestyle Danielle Hill
50m Backsroke Conor Ferguson, Jordan Sloan
200m Breaststroke Mona McSharry
200m Butterfly Brendan Hyland
4x50m Medley Relay Ireland Men
