Olympic bronze medalist Mona McSharry makes pool return in US

Olympic bronze medallist Mona McSharry made her return to competitive swimming at the weekend in the United States.

McSharry, after five months off, was back in the pool as University of Tennessee took on University of Alabama at Don Gambril Olympic Pool in the Alabama Aquatic Center.

In Tuscaloosa, McSharry finished fifth in the 100 yard breaststroke, finishing in 1:00.67.

McSharry helped her University of Tennessee team to fourth in the 200 yard medley relay, competing alongside Amber Myers, Ella Jansen and Julia Burroughs.

The team finished in 1:37.55, McSharry going 23.61, with another Tennessee quartet winning and a pair of Alabama teams second and third.

McSharry and a University of Tennessee quartet including Camille Spink, Josephine Fuller and Sara Stotler were second in the 200 yard freestyle. The Tennessee team finished in 1:29.31 with McSharry swimming a 22.49 leg.

At the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, McSharry - who came eighth in the previous edition in Tokyo - won bronze in the women's 100m breaststroke final. 

The Grange native, a graduate of the Marlins Swimming Club in Ballyshannon, finishedin 1:05.59, beaten only by Tatjana Smith of South Africa and China's Tang Qianting.

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At Paris La Défense Arena, McSharry also competed in the 200m breaststroke, reaching a semi-final and finishing 11th overall, and helped Ireland to a new national record and a sixth-place finish in the medley relay.