Sligo’s Mona McSharry raced to fourth place in the 50m breaststroke final of the World short course swimming championships in Abu Dhabi today.
Clocking a time of 29.59, the University of Tennessee swimmer broke the Irish record which was set by herself yesterday in the semi-finals of the competition.
NEW NATIONAL RECORD! 🇮🇪
Fourth place for Mona McSharry in the 50m breaststroke at the World Championships.
So close to a place on the podium but she’s broken the Irish Senior record again! Taking .06 seconds off the record she set yesterday with a swim of 29.59.@swimireland pic.twitter.com/h9aC64gyKM
— Her Sport (@HerSportDotIE) December 17, 2021
Israel’s Anastasia Gorbenko claimed the gold medal with a time of 29.34, followed by Italy’s Benedetta Pilato for silver and Sweden’s Sophie Hansson who pipped the Irish 21 year old to the bronze accolade by just 0.04 seconds.
She will compete in three further events (100m individual medley, 100m and 200m breaststroke) at the Etihad Arena in this contest but has described today’s fourth placed result as “gut wrenching.”
“I can’t but be happy with a PB, and I progressed through the rounds, which is great to see of course” said the Tokyo 2020 athlete.
“It’s definitely something to improve on and I do love racing the 50, it sets me up really well for the rest of the week, and I can’t dwell on it now.”
“I just have to move on and do better later on. Anyone of those eight could have touched the wall first. With any 50, that’s just the way it happens.”
“Any little thing can go wrong. At Europeans I managed to get a medal from lane eight. The three that got it today were just the best in the moment,” she said.
🗣 ‘Fourth is gut-wrenching, but if you look at it the other way, I was fourth. I can’t but be happy with a PB.’
Mona McSharry’s reflects on her 50m Breaststroke Final at the FINA World Short Course Swimming Championships ⤵️https://t.co/6fd7XF4veU#FINAAbuDhabi2021 pic.twitter.com/oSMabJkFrT
— Swim Ireland (@swimireland) December 17, 2021
Yesterday fellow Irish star Ellen Walshe picked up a silver medal in the 400m Individual Medley event as she smashed a 27 year old national record, and with a number of races to go in the United Arab Emirates.