Mona McSharry bowed out of the World Aquatics Championship 200m breaststroke competition in Fukoka, Japan at the semi-final stage, finishing the event in 15th place overall.
McSharry finished fifth in Tuesday’s 100m breaststroke final at the championships, securing Olympic qualification.
The Sligo swimmer started the semi-final race strongly and was in fifth place crossing the 150m mark, but a late charge saw her drop to eighth, finishing with a time of 2:26.27 – quicker that her heat time of 2:26.59.
Speaking after the semi-final, McSharry expressed confusion. “I’m confused, I need to see the splits and stuff before I can figure out what happened I guess.
“It felt better than this morning, but roughly the same time, I’m quite happy with how I’m taking it out I think, so just look at the positives and hopefully build on it and this is just the first opportunity to qualify [for Paris 2024], so hopefully I can get it before the Olympics rolls around.”
McSharry will be back in action on Saturday for the 50m breaststroke heats, which is a non-Olympic event.
“I’m excited to move to something a little bit shorter, a little bit more relaxed, no pressure really, just get out there and race and do a bit of high intensity stuff before we go for the relay on Sunday, so it should be fun,” she said.
