The 42

MONA McSHARRY IS through to the final after an impressive showing in the 100m breaststroke at the Paris Olympics this evening. 

The 23-year-old’s time of 1:05.51 is a new Irish record and her position of second overall has secured a centre lane for the final.

The Sligo swimmer finished second, behind South Africa’s Tatjana Schoenmaker (1.05.00) and ahead of USA’s Lilly King in third (1.05.64).

McSharry had a slow start and appeared well down the pecking order but finished strongly to ensure her place in tomorrow night’s final, which is due to start at around 8.25pm.

Earlier in this morning’s heats, she also finished second behind favourite Qianting Tang from China, in a time of 1:05.74, which put her through to the semi-final in third place overall.  

Mona McSharry eased through to the semi-finals of the women's 100m breaststroke after finishing second in her heat at the La Défense Arena#RTESport #Paris2024
📱report https://t.co/GhQQ0y8NPT
📺Watch https://t.co/uHRfiPJEjQ pic.twitter.com/H4LMCW9UGk

— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 28, 2024

Tang finished in 1:05.63, with a strong McSharry gaining in the closing stages.  

Speaking about her slower start, McSharry told reports after the race that it was a result of purposeful relaxation. 

“I did go out a little bit slower the first 50 and that was probably being more relaxed which is not necessarily a bad thing because I came back back faster,” she explained. 

But hopefully I can put together the 50 from this morning and 50 from tonight tomorrow and see what happens.

Could that be a medal? 

“Yeah, I mean, look, there’s eight of us. We’ve all got a chance and, you know, it’s exciting to be up there and being in the middle lane is going to be great because I’ll be right in the middle of it.

“And yeah, I mean that’s what I’m here to do. So I’m definitely very excited.”

She also acknowledged it was nice to be in the small percentage of people who manage “to PB at the Olympics”. 

“It’s also really exciting to know that I’m racing against the best and you know holding my own.” 

World record holder Lilly King told reporters after that she was not surprised by McSharry’s time given how well she has been racing all year, putting her solidly in as a medal contender. 

Written by Paul Fennessy and Sinéad O’Carroll and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.