The Women’s 200m Breaststroke Semi-Final took place this afternoon at 1:19pm. Mona McSharry placed 15th in the world with a time of 2:26.27. She will not advance in the 200m Breaststroke, but will be back in the pool on Saturday, July 29, for the 50m Breaststroke.
McSharry secured a place in the 200m Breaststroke in the morning of the fifth day of racing, July 27, at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. McSharry has already secured Olympic qualification and was fifth in Tuesday’s final of the 100m Breaststroke.
The Sligo woman, swimming in the third heat, went out quickly and was first at the 100m turn, her competitors began to catch her in the second 100m with the USA’s Kate Douglas the fastest qualifier from the heat in 2:25.50. McSharry would finish fifth in 2:26.59 and qualified in sixteenth place overall.
Speaking after the race McSharry said ‘Feeling pretty good, it felt relatively comfortable for a 200m in the morning so that’s kind of exciting, hopefully I can build on that tonight and go faster. I feel like the smallest tweaks in the 200m can make a world of difference, so it would just be nice to play around with that tonight.’
Victoria Catterson had a solid performance in the 100m Freestyle touching in 55.56, just outside her personal best of 55.21. Catterson returns to the pool on Sunday for the Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay.
The World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka is the first of three opportunities for Irish swimmers to secure individual Olympic places, the second being the World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar in February 2024, and the third being the Irish Open Swimming Championships in May 2024.
For relays, the top three teams in Olympic relay events in Fukuoka will confirm places for Paris, with the remaining thirteen teams coming from the top times in Fukuoka and the Doha World Aquatics Championships.
Swimming at the World Aquatics Championships will take place from Sunday 23rd to Sunday 30th July.