Fifth in the world again for Mona McSharry in 200m breaststroke final

Max McCusker twice broke his 100m butterfly personal best on Friday at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha.

WORLD CLASS: Mona McSharry of Ireland after the Women's 200m breaststroke semi-final at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar. Picture: Ian MacNicol/Sportsfile

Just as she did in the 100m breaststroke final earlier in the week, Mona McSharry finished fifth in the 200m breaststroke final at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha on Friday.

The 23-year-old from Sligo swam 2:24.89 in a race won by Tes Schouten of the Netherlands. American Kate Douglass touched the wall for silver, swimming 2:20.91, ahead of bronze medallist Sydney Pickrem of Canada who swam 2:22.94.

At last year's World Championships in Japan, McSharry reached the semi-final of the 200m breaststroke. Finishing fifth this year does represent considerable progress.

"It's gone really well," she said.

"This is the first time it's starting to click. It's not the time I wanted but I think I'm racing it properly now and figuring out the right way to do it."

McSharry will return to the pool on Saturday for the 50m breaststroke heats.

"It will be fun," she added. 

"It's definitely going to be a tough turn around to go straight back into it tomorrow morning. It's nice to finish on the 50m. One length, splash and dash."

PROGRESS: Mona McSharry of Ireland competes in the Women's 200m breaststroke final. Picture: Ian MacNicol/Sportsfile

At the Aspire Dome on Friday morning, Max McCusker matched and then broke Shane Ryan's Irish 100m butterfly record.

The 24-year-old swam 52.52 in the heats and then 52.31 in a swim-off with South Africa's Matthew Sates to determine who would progress to the semi-final. Though he broke his personal best for the second time on Friday and set a new national record, it was not enough for McCusker to advance. 

"I’m happy, first time getting a PB (personal best) in that event for two years now, so it was quite emotional," he said.

"Obviously, I wanted to make the semi-final, but that’s not the focus here so I’m happy with it. I feel like I’m only learning the race again. That’s only two times I’ve done it long course since Japan (2023 World Championships).

"I feel very confident for the relay, we’ve got a good group of boys so the morale is quite high for that, I think we’ll go in there and we can put ourselves in the mix for a final."

FLYER: Ireland's Max McCusker during the men's 100m butterfly heats at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha. Picture: ©INPHO/Andrea Masini

McCusker, who is a member of the Dolphin club in Cork, is now just 0.64 of a second away from the Olympic qualification time. 

In the women's 200m backstroke, Maria Godden finished 17th overall. Her time of 2:13.30 was just over a second outside her person best. 

"I’m happy enough with it," she said about her second top 20 finish of the championships, "it’s faster than what I was at Flanders (International Meet) two weeks ago by over two seconds, so it’s definitely moving in the right direction. 

"February is difficult to produce personal bests, it’s been an amazing experience this time, and if I don’t make a semi this time, there’s always Worlds next year."

In the men's 50m freestyle, Tom Fannon swam 22.23 to place 24th overall.