Magic Mona: Bronze for McSharry at World Championships

Mona McSharry surged her way to a bronze medal at the World Short Course Swimming Championships in Abu Dhabi.

A new Irish record - her sixth in the last five days - saw McSharry take third in the 100m breaststroke final.

Drawn in lane 3, McSharry touched the wall in 1:03.92, taking 0.3 seconds off the record she broke in Sunday’s semi-final.

The 21-year-old finished superbly over the last 25 metres to pip Alia Atkinson from Jamaica, the defending champion, world record holder and four-time world gold medalist, to the bronze.

The race was won by Qiating Tang from China in 1:03.47 with Sweden’s Sophie Hansson claiming the silver in 1:03.50.

McSharry, who cut her teeth at the Marlins Swimming Club in Ballyshannon, has had a stunning time in Abu Dhabi. Having been pipped for a medal in the 50m breaststroke final, a determined McSharry reached with all her might to take her spot on the podium in her favourite event.

Earlier this year, McSharry was a finalist in the 100m breaststroke at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

She set six new Irish marks at the Emirates Arena, breaking each of the 100m breaststroke, 100m individual medley and 50m breaststroke records twice.

A new PB of 1:04.22 booked McSharry’s spot in the 100m breaststroke final as the third fastest qualifier from Sunday’s semi-finals, having come through her heat in 1:04.59.

Her previous 100m breaststroke best was the 1:04.36 she swam at the 2019 European Short Course Championships in Birmingham.

In 2017, McSharry won gold in the 100m breaststroke at the World Junior Championships in Indianapolis.

Earlier this year, the Grange native qualified for the 100m breaststroke final at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, where she finished in eighth spot.

The University of Tennessee kinesiology student, who has won silver and bronze medals at NCAA Championships since relocating to America in 2020, took her scintillating form to Abu Dhabi.

In her 100m individual medley semi-final on Saturday, McSharry swam 59.35 seconds, having become the first Irish woman to dip underneath a minute when recording 59.65 seconds in the heat. She placed 13th overall in the 100m individual medley.

"My target was to break the minute,” she said.

“I’ve kind of had that on my mind for a couple of years. I’m really happy with how that went.

"It definitely hurt coming home but it was a really good time.”

McSharry broke the Irish record twice on her way to finishing fourth in the 50m breaststroke.

The Grange woman finished Friday’s final in 29.59 seconds, breaking the new mark of 29.65 seconds she had set in Thursday’s semi-final.

McSharry was just 0.04 seconds off Sweden’s Sophie Hansson, the bronze medalist, in the 50m breaststroke final, which was won by Anastasia Gorbenko from Israel (29.34 seconds) with Benedetta Pilato (Italy) winning bronze in 29.50 seconds.