'Not done yet': Mona McSharry will keep on swimming after World Championships

Mona McSharry has vowed to keep on swimming after a disappointing end to the World Aquatics Championships.

Having exited her favoured 100m breaststroke on Monday at the semi-final phase, McSharry had to skip the 200m due to a stomach bug. 

Olympic bronze medalist McSharry got out of her sick bed for Saturday morning’s 50m breaststroke heat, finishing eighth in 31.28 seconds.

“Not the end to the worlds I wanted, but we just kind of take it and accept it,” the Marlins Swimming Club swimmer said.

The 24-year-old told how she has been “pretty sick” and found it “tough to get out of bed” in recent days in Singapore.

In her 100m semi-final at the Singapore Sports Hub, McSharry finished in 1:06.33 having won her heat in 1:05.99. It wasn’t enough to advance to the final.

McSharry previously competed in the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, finishing fifth in the 100m breaststroke final.

She also participated in the World Aquatics Championships in Doha in February 2024, placing fifth in both the 100m and 200m breaststroke finals.

In 2024, McSharry won Olympic 100m breaststroke bronze in Paris. After that epic night in France, McSharry took a lengthy break and there have been suggestions that she could bow out of the sport.

However, the Grange, County Sligo woman insists she is set to swim on and has pencilled in the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Carmel, Indiana in October.

She said:  “It kind of just fuels me, honestly. I think kind of coming after the Olympics last year, I was just ready for a break, and I do think that kind of taking five months off really helped me power through this season. 

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“I’m kind of excited to just get back in and keep training, maybe take a short break, but then kind of get straight back into it and just prepare for the World Cups (October) and verything else coming up.’

“I think I kind of had a real realisation that I’m not ready to be done yet, and you know, I’m not cutting myself short or anything, so I’m waiting until I really feel like I want to be finished, and if that’s not yet, then that’s fine. I’ll carry on as long as I’m excited and enjoying it.”