McSharry Strikes Gold in Baku

Mona McSharry has secured her first gold medal of the 2026 World Aquatics World Cup series with victory in the 100m Breaststroke Final in Baku, Azerbaijan on Friday. McSharry and Ellen Walshe will compete in three World Cup events across October in Baku, Azerbaijan (1-3 October), Tashkent, Uzbekistan (8-10 October) and Astana, Kazakhstan (15-17 October).

Having topped the rankings in the morning heats in 1:04.94, McSharry went even quicker in the final, clocking 1:04.21 to become the only swimmer under 65 seconds and claim just the second World Cup gold medal of her career. Her previous World Cup title came in the 50m Breaststroke at the Westmont stop of the 2025 series.

The victory adds to the silver medal McSharry won in the 200m Breaststroke on Thursday, continuing an impressive opening to her World Cup campaign.

South Africa’s Aimee Canny took silver in 1:05.21, while Russia’s Evgeniia Chikunova, winner of Thursday’s 200m Breaststroke, claimed bronze in 1:05.64.

Following her silver medal in the 200m Butterfly on Thursday, Ellen Walshe returned to action in the 400m Individual Medley. The Templeogue swimmer narrowly missed out on a second medal of the meet, finishing fifth in 4:29.13.

China’s Yiting Yu claimed gold in 4:24.09, with Great Britain’s Abbie Wood taking silver in 4:27.95. The battle for bronze went down to the final touch, with China’s Mohan Chang securing third place in 4:28.76, just one-hundredth of a second ahead of Japan’s Waka Kobori (4:28.77), with Walshe close behind in fifth.

The Irish duo will return to the pool on Saturday, with McSharry competing in the 50m Breaststroke and Walshe lining up in the 200m Individual Medley.

World Aquatics World Cup Stop 1 – Baku, Azerbaijan (1-3 October)

Day 1 Results