Mona McSharry through to 100m breaststroke final at World Aquatics championships
Ireland's Mona McSharry after competing in the Women's 100m Breaststroke semi-finals during day two of the World Aquatics Championships 2024 at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar. Photo: Ian MacNicol/Sportsfile
Mona McSharry has secured a centre lane for Tuesday’s 100m breaststroke final at the World Aquatics championships in Doha.
The Sligo swimmer eased into the final in second place overall, after finishing second in her semi-final behind China’s Quintang Tang (1:05.36). McSharry posted a time of 1:06.11, faster than her heat time of 1:06.49.
She has a personal best of 1:05.55 which she will be aiming for in the final as she bids to become the first Irish swimmer to win a medal at the long course (50m) World Championships.
Speaking after her race, McSharry said: “I’m really happy, progressing it on from this morning, which was my main goal here, so I’m excited to see what I can do tomorrow.”
“I’ve a good lane, so just race. I’ve set myself up in a good position to do what I want to do in the summer, so you get to the final and you race what’s in the pool next to you, it’s going to be really good practice just to try and get my hands on the wall first.”
The 100m breaststroke final will take place at 5.45pm tomorrow.
Conor Ferguson went under 54 seconds for just the second time in his career in the 100m backstroke semi-final, swimming another personal best to finish 13th overall in 53.90, progressing from 53.95 in the heats. The Loughborough swimmer was just 0.16 off the Olympic qualification time of 53.74.
Ferguson will have a third opportunity to lower that time on Sunday when he leads off the men’s 4x100m medley relay
“(It’s) Bittersweet because I want the Olympic time, but I have to be happy with a pb (personal best). It’s moving in the right direction,” he said.
“I just have to now refocus and recover for this relay, we’ve a real opportunity to get that relay across the line. There’s nothing more privileged and inspiring than an Irish relay and I want to be a part of that and I want to lead it off,” said Ferguson.
Daniel Wiffen, who finished seventh in the 400m final, is back in the pool on Tuesday competing in the 800m heats. He holds the world short course record for the distance.
Victoria Catterson will be seeking the Olympic qualification time of 1:57.25 in the 200m freestyle. She holds the Irish record at 1:59.75.
Darragh Greene returns to the pool for the 50m breaststroke heats.
