Ryan the Best of Ireland in Singapore; McSharry Confirms Intention to Keep Swimming

Shane Ryan was the best of the Irish on the penultimate morning of racing at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, as Mona McSharry closed out her Championships with a fuel and the intention to keep racing internationally.

Olympic bronze medallist McSharry ended her World Championships in the 50m Breaststroke on Saturday morning after a rough 48 hours saw her out of the pool with a stomach bug.

The Sligo woman, who swam the semi-final of the 100m Breaststroke earlier this week, clocked 31.28 to finish eighth in her heat.

The 24-year-old spoke after the race ‘You know, definitely kind of accepted at this point, you know, I’ve been pretty sick and it’s tough to get out of bed the last few days, so considering that I was able to get up and race today, you know, I can’t just can only but be happy with it and, you know, sadly it’s not the end to the worlds I wanted, but we just kind of take it and accept it.’

Asked about the new season and year ahead, McSharry confirmed her intention to keep going ‘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, and honestly I’m kind of excited to just get back in and keep training, you know, maybe take a short break, but then kind of get straight back into it and just prepare for the World Cups (October) and, you know, everything else coming up.’

She added ‘I think I kind of had a real realisation, kind of at this competition 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. You know, I’ll carry on as long as I’m excited and enjoying it.’

Shane Ryan, swimming the 50m Backstroke for only the second time this year, won his heat in 24.96 seconds, but was nineteenth overall and outside of the semi-final places by just seven hundredths of a second.

Ryan spoke after the race ‘Coming in this meeting was a lot, I mean, I’m moving out of Ireland and moving into the States, So, I’ve been kind of dealing with a lot of stuff outside the water. I’m happy with it, but, like, still feels really uncomfortable because I haven’t been training backstroke because of my shoulders, I’m mainly trying to swim the fly and the free. I mean, the 50 fly was a little disappointing, but I got like a stomach bug before coming into it, so that kind of took away from a lot of it. But I mean, hey, I gave it everything I got this morning.’

Daniell Hill also closed out her Championships on Saturday morning. The Larne swimmer was just on her season’s best 25.22, clocking 25.24 to place eighth in her heat.

Speaking after the race she said ‘It’s a bittersweet one again, because you swim your best time and you’re in there. I’ve got to find a way, as I have been trying to the past couple years, to get those best performances in the morning. But yeah, I have had a long season. to be here is one thing, but yeah, I’ve got to find a way now and sit down and try and get those fast performances in the morning.’

Looking ahead to the new season she added ‘It’s actually probably the first time where I like wish the new season would just start tomorrow, I feel ready to go already and just like want to put my head back down and fix the things that I know I can fix. I don’t think there’s a lot there that needs to be fixed. I think I just need to keep my body healthy and as an athlete, you know, that is the most important thing. So yeah, like I’m really excited for next season.’

On Sunday, the final day of competition in Singapore, Ellen Walshe, already a two-time finalist at these Championships swims her main event, the 400m Individual Medley. Walshe will need a top eight finish to advance to the final. Ireland will also be represented in the Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay by John Shortt (Backstroke), Eoin Corby (Breaststroke), Jack Cassin (Butterfly) and Evan Bailey (Freestyle), all four are team mates at Swim Ireland’s National Centre in Limerick.

Results – Day 7 Saturday 2^nd August