McSharry finishes in seventh at European 200m breaststroke final in Rome

Mona McSharry finished in seventh place in the 200m breaststroke final of the European Swimming Championships in Rome.

McSharry admitted afterwards she went too hard from the start and was well-placed in second place at the 50m and 100m marks. However, the Grange, Co Sligo native, who swam out of the Ballyshannon Marlins Swimming Club was eventually reeled in to finish in a time of 2:26.96, having slipped to fifth on 150m.

The early leader, Kotryna Teterevkova of Lithuania, claimed the bronze medal in a time of 2:24:16 with Switzerland's Lisa Mamie winning in a time of 2:23:27 ahead of second-placed Martina Carraro of Italy on 2:23:64.

“It didn’t go the way that I had planned,” McSharry, who came fifth in the final of the 50m breaststroke on Saturday, told RTÉ Sport afterwards. “I let myself get a little bit excited and just went out a little hard in the first 100m, I paid the price the second 100m, but look, that’s the cost of learning.

“That’s all I can really do after this race - continue on and find ways to improve.I should have trusted my own process more and maybe hung back a little bit. Sometimes excitement just gets the better of you. I really was just so excited to race, which is not a feeling I normally have before the 200.”