Olympic bronze medallist Mona McSharry and Danielle Hill have finished their schedules at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore with exits in their respective heats on Saturday.
Having suffered from a stomach bug which saw her out of the pool for two days, 24-year-old McSharry was on the blocks for the women’s 50m breaststroke heats.
The Sligo swimmer finished in 31.28 to finish eighth in her heat, 25th overall, to miss out on Saturday’s semi-finals.
“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, I can only be happy with it,” said McSharry.
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“Sadly it’s not the end to the worlds I wanted, but we just kind of take it and accept it.”
Despite a challenging few days in Singapore, McSharry said she remains motivated to keep swimming. “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, maybe take a short break, but then kind of get straight back into it and just prepare for the World Cups (October) and everything else coming up.
“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. I’ll carry on as long as I’m excited and enjoying it.”
Earlier in the session, Hill clocked 25.24 in the women’s 50m freestyle, a shade off her season best of 25.22.
Her heat time put her 25th overall, outside qualification for Saturday afternoon’s semi-finals.
“It’s a bittersweet one again, because you swim your best time and you’re in there,” the Larne woman said after her final heat. “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.”
Shane Ryan was also in action on the penultimate day of the championships, finishing first in his heat in the men’s 50m backstroke in 24.96 to place 19th overall.
Ellen Walsh will return to the pool on Sunday for the heats of the women’s 400m individual medley (3.35am Irish time, followed by the final at 1.15pm), before John Shortt, Eoin Corby, Jack Cassin and Evan Bailey will represent Ireland in the third heat of the men’s 4x100m medley relay (4.02am Irish time, followed by the final at 1.33pm).
