Mona McSharry has secured a place in the 200m Breaststroke semi-final on the fifth day of racing 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 Thursday morning's 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 qualifies in 16th 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."
The Women’s 200m Breaststroke semi-Final takes at 1.19pm Irish time on Thursday afternoon.
In the Men’s 200m Breaststroke, Darragh Greene was just shy of making the semi-final. Greene won his heat in 2:12.21, finishing in eighteenth place overall. Greene is back in action on Sunday for the Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay.
16-year-old John Shortt made his senior international debut in the Men’s 200m Backstroke.
Shortt, from Galway, came home under the two-minute mark in 1:59.79 for 22nd place overall. The 200m Backstroke was Shortt’s only event of the Championships, but the National Centre Limerick and Bluefin swimmer will continue preparations in Japan for the LEN European U23 Swimming Championships taking place in Dublin from August 11-13.
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.
