Mona McSharry claims third U23 European gold medal with 200m breaststroke victory
Mona McSharry of Ireland celebrates with her gold medal after winning the women's 200m breaststroke final during day three of the European U23 Swimming Championships at the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin. Photo by Tyler Miller/Sportsfile
Sligo swimmer Mona McSharry made it a hat-trick of golds after winning the 200m breaststroke final at the European Under-23 Swimming Championships in Dublin.
The 22-year-old surged to victory in a time of 2:25.49 and in doing so added a third gold to her 100m and 50m breaststroke golds won on the two previous evenings.
McSharry led from start to finish in the U23 final in front of a home support at the National Aquatic Centre.
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The Grange native, who had the fastest qualifier from Sunday morning’s heats in 2:27.27, took the lead early in the final, reaching the 100m mark in 1:09.35 and leading the way by a second at that stage.
Elizabeth Booker from Great Britain finished in second place behind McSharry in 2:26.37, with Croatian Ana Blazevic claiming bronze in 2:26.61.
In winning her third gold, McSharry took a clean sweep in the breaststroke event by topping the pile in the 50m and 100m on Friday and Saturday.
At the World Championships this year in Tokyo, McSharry was just 0.13 of a second from a 100m breaststroke medal but qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games regardless when finishing in a time of 1:05.55.
