Mona McSharry, Rachael Darragh set to get underway at Olympics

Mona McSharry will be the first of the Donegal sportspeople in Olympic Games action this weekend in Paris.

McSharry will enter the water in the Paris La Défense Arena on Sunday for the heats of the 100m breaststroke with the 200m breaststroke heats to follow on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old, a native of Grange who emerged as a swimmer of real promise at the Marlins Swimming Club in Ballyshannon, has high hopes.

McSharry reached the final of the 100m breaststroke at the last Olympic Games in Tokyo.

She will compete, as she did at the last Olympics, in the breaststroke events over 100m and 200m.

Improvement is the aim of the game for McSharry, who has recently graduated from the University of Tennessee with a degree in kinesiology.

"So for the 200m that’s qualifying for a semi and better and then for the 100m that’s better than eighth place,” McSharry says.

“That’s the goal that I would try and set for myself. I know that once you make it into the final, it’s who can get their hands on the wall first.

“Once I get to the final I’ll just try and get my hands on the wall above as many people as possible and hopefully that’s top three.

“I’m definitely excited to get out there and start racing.”

Staff members Calvin O'Brien and Maeve Coyle from Ballyshannon Leisure Centre wishing success to Irish Olympic swimmer Mona McSharry, a member of Marlins Swimming Club at Ballyshannon Leisure Centre. Photo: Thomas Gallagher

Rachael Darragh, the Raphoe badminton player, will compete in the women's singles. Her schedule has not yet been confirmed, but Darragh will be in action early next week.

Darragh, a niece of three-time Olympian Chloe Magee, has been given a difficult assignment in Group L alongside Spain's Carolina Marin, the fourth seed who was the gold medallist at the 2016 Olympic Games and Jenjira Stadelmann from Switzerland, the European Games bronze medallist.

Darragh's uncle Daniel Magee, the high performance director with Badminton Ireland, will be alongside her.

“It's really nice to have Dan,” Darragh says. “I have worked with him for years. He has been there with me since the start.”

Athlete Kelly McGrory has been selected as part of the squads for the mixed 4x400m relay and the women's 4x400m relay. The Tir Chonaill AC woman, who is part of the Olympic squad for the first time, will not know until closer to the heats if she will be chosen as one of the four to take to the track.

The mixed 4x400m heats are scheduled for August 2 with the heats of the women's 4x400m relay are pencilled in for August 9

Finn Valley AC athlete Mark English will go in the heats of the men's 800m at the Stade de France on August 7. English, already a two-time Olympian, twice lowered the Irish 800m record, which now stands at 1:44.53, on his way to booking his ticket.

Letterkenny AC's Teresa McDaid is the team manager for the Irish athletics team at the Olympics and another Letterkenny native, Professor Sharon Madigan, is the science lead with Team Ireland and oversees nutrition.