EJ’s AllStars continue form
MONA McSharry continued her impressive form on Day 2 of the Irish Short Course (25m) Swimming Championships in Lisburn on Friday as the 18-year-old Grange athlete broke Michelle Smith’s 1995 100m Freestyle Irish Record twice, she had already broken the 50m Freestyle record the day before.
The Marlins swimmer first went under the record in the morning heats clocking 54.65, taking two hundredths of a second off Smith’s 23-year-old time of 54.87, she then lowered that time by another three hundredths of a second to 54.34 to claim gold and the national title.
Less than 20 minutes later McSharry added her fourth gold medal of the meet in the 100m Breaststroke where she touched in 1:07.91.
Mona said: “I’m over the moon, I’m so happy.
“This morning to have got that record when it was 23-years-old was absolutely amazing.
“54 seconds is a fast time and I didn’t think I’d get it. To be able to go even faster tonight and be even closer to a 53 is amazing. I’m just feeling great.”
Six new Irish Records were set as the Irish Short Course Swimming Championships continued in Antrim on Saturday. Mona set her fourth record, Jack McMillan and Michael Hewitt set new junior standards while Alan Corby set a first national record in the 100m Individual Medley. Two relay records were set by UCD and Ards to conclude the third day of competition.
McSharry set her fourth record of the week in the days first event, the women’s 100m Individual Medley.
The 18-year-old had set records in the 50m and 100m Freestyle earlier in the week, this time it was her own record of 1:00.66, set just weeks ago, that fell in 1:00.34 in the morning heats.
In the final the Marlins swimmer clocked 1:00.43 for her fifth gold of the week.
Swim Ireland’s Irish Short Course National Championships concluded in Lisburn on Sunday with a further 4 records wiped from the books bringing the total to 18 over the past four days.
McSharry was the only swimmer to break the 2-minute mark as she collected her sixth title of the week in the 200m Freestyle final.
McSharry, who has broken six national records in the past four days, touched in 1:59.40. Kilkenny’s Naomi Trait and Bangor’s Rachel Bethel (2:01.87) battled for silver with Trait prevailing by just .25 in 2:01.62.
Following the close of the 2018 Championships, National Performance Director Jon Rudd said:“It’s very encouraging to see how far we have come since this event last year.
“Although five of our premier athletes are away preparing for the World SC Championships in China, we have seen a number of junior and senior records broken at this meet.
“However, the primary indicator of progress for the nation as a whole is that of the number of athletes at this competition compared to last year, with the qualifying standards remaining roughly the same at 2017.
“The depth to the heats and the higher requirement to perform to make an A Final is something quite new and it’s a critical mass such as this that will see us progress as a nation over the years to come. Culturally things have shifted. The club with only one or two qualifiers are now here.
“Athletes with only one qualifying time are now here. Our athletes based outside of Ireland are now here. All of this is most encouraging and gives us a great platform for the long course season ahead
MCSHARRY COLLECTED HER 6TH TITLE OF THE WEEK.