Grace Meade - the proudest swim coach in Ireland after McSharry bronze

For Grace Meade, watching her prodigy Mona McSharry touch the wall for the bronze medal at the Olympic 100m breaststroke final on Monday evening will live long in her memory.

The tears began to flow some time afterwards as she watched the Irish flag being raised at the presentation ceremony. The dream had come true.

“It was brilliant. It’s amazing to be very honest. We kinda set out a plan many years ago and to see her fulfil her dreams is just unreal.”

The journey for Mona McSharry to Olympic bronze, the first swim medal Ireland has achieved since 1996, began some 14 years ago at the swimming pool in Ballyshannon.

“Mona probably joined the Marlins Swim Club in 2010, 2011 when she was 10 or 11 years old. She has been a member of the club ever since. 

“I took over running the programme from 2014 onwards. So I would have been coaching her right up to 2020 when she moved to Tennessee where she was taken on board by Matt Kredich and their coaches over there and they have done a tremendous job.”

Nobody knows more about the sacrifices that have been made in the last 10 years in particular than the Marlins coach.

And it was Mona’s dedication which marked her apart from all the other swimmers who joined the club.

“It’s like all kids that join a club, they are all the same initially. It was her attitude really, she is an extremely hard worker. She trains really hard, she’s always on time and does the session meticulously well.

“She’s very talented obviously as well. So  when you bring all those ingredients together, that’s what you get yesterday evening, an Olympic medallist.”

The relationship between Mona McSharry and Grace Meade has become really strong over that time and even when Mona moved to Tennessee to continue her training and education, that link to Grace Meade remained.

“We have a very close relationship and we have been in touch all the time, even when she was in America, we were constantly in touch. That’s why it’s so very, very special for both of us yesterday.

“Because we know what went into it; we know the crazy hours that we did; we know the obstacles that were in our way and that we overcame. It just means the world to both of us to accomplish what we did.”

When all her efforts came to fruition on Monday night, there was a tear in the coach’s eye.

“There certainly was. When you see the Irish flag being raised, I have to admit the tears were rolling down my face.”

McSharry went through a difficult time after moving to the US, especially in 2022 and her Marlins coach was always on the end of the ‘phone.

“Moving to a new programme would be, new coaches, new everything. Initially it was very exciting because it was all new and she was really looking forward to it. It was 2020 when Covid was kicking in. When she went the first year was great, but then she dropped into a bit of a lull. It was tough for a few years there, but in the last year she pulled out of it and got to love swimming again, sort of recharged and refocussed on why she started in the first place.

“We had long talks and I’m delighted she figured it out. She got a support team around her over there and got through it.  That is really important in that side of the sport, the mental side because of the intensity of it. The expectations are high and the athlete’s expectations are exceptionally high. 

“When things are not going well it drags you down,” said Meade.

Monday night was just amazing and you could see that when she emerged for the final three was a huge smile on her face.

“She was bouncing last night coming out. She just cannot believe that it actually happened. There were five or six girls in that race who could have won and for her to get hand on the wall to be third for bronze was amazing. Because we have been on the side of fourth or fifth on numerous times and that’s a tough one to take.

“We were so happy to see No 3 opposite her name. You’re in the mix, that’s all you know. Even nobody knew in the stadium. We knew who won it, I think she was the clear winner, but after that you hadn’t a clue where anybody was.”

Meade was due to contact McSharry for a talk on Tuesday afternoon after a failed attempt on Tuesday morning.

“She tried ringing me this morning and I was on a higgidly oul train. I’m due to ring her back now,” said Grace, who was taking in the tennis competition.

“I will be back in the pool tomorrow morning for her 200m breaststroke heats and we’ll take it one race at a time.”

The trajectory of the rise of McSharry in the world of swimming has been impressive with Irish record after Irish record broken. Reaching the Olympic final in her first Olympics in Tokyo three years ago was almost an over-achievement.

“Massive. Because we always had the plan that Tokyo would be the one to go for experience. We always said that Paris would be her games and she would make the final. And once you have a lane in the final you don’t know what can happen.

“Once she made the final in Tokyo we joked about it, you went one step too far in Tokyo. It was a great experience, even though the audience wasn’t there.

“The atmosphere last night (in Paris) was electric whereas Tokyo was a quiet stadium because of Covid.”

This time around it was difficult and McSharry had the support of a multitude of family and friends around her on Monday night.

“The whole family was there, uncles and aunts, the whole lot. A whole entourage of McSharrys, it’s absolutely brilliant.

“Roisin Maguire, her best mate; Ruby Hurst was here. It was brilliant and you had other Marlins swimmers over here too, Nessa Warren, Eunan Corrigan, it was great.”

And what of the future for Mona McSharry? 

“The biggest thing you get from this is the confidence to know that you are at the top table and you deserve to be there and are competing with the best. She is obviously going to take a wee break now after Paris and make plans there for the future.

“She would have no bother, if she wished, to continue on and compete at the top level for the next number of years. Having said that, it’s a massive, massive commitment, so she has to make sure she’s willing to do that as well.”

McSharry has two more events in the pool with the 200m breaststroke first up on Wednesday, while she is also part of the Irish relay medley team.

“The pressure is off now. The 100 was always the main event. The 200 was always going to be a bonus swim. She will go out and give it her best, but there’s no pressure on her and she’ll really enjoy the medley relay.

“The relays are always great fun to be involved with and she’ll have Danielle, Ellen and Grace in that medley relay,” says Meade.