Mona McSharry scoops fourth straight SEC 100m breaststroke gold

Mona McSharry won her fourth successive 100m breaststroke gold at the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships.

At the Gabrielsen Natatorium on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, Georgia, the Olympic bronze medalist made her return to the podium.

McSharry edged her University of Tennessee colleague McKenzie Siroky to take the gold.

McSharry swam 57.76 seconds, beating Siroky by just 0.1 of a second.

The Marlins Swimming Club, Ballyshannon graduate joins Georgia's Kristy Kowal (1997-2000) as the only swimmers to ever achieve the four-in-a-row feat in conference history.

The University of Tennessee team bagged silver in the women's 400 medley relay with McSharry joining Josephine Fuller, Sara Stotler and Camille Spink to finish in 3:25.18. 

Last month, McSharry made her competitive return to the pool after five months off post-Olympics when she swam at  the Alabama Aquatic Center in the 100 yard breaststroke, 200 yard medley relay and 200 yard freestyle events.

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, finishedi n 1:05.59, beaten only by Tatjana Smith of South Africa and China's Tang Qianting.

Read next: Arlene Crossan lowers Donegal record to seal place in National Indoor 400m final

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.