Mona McSharry continued her impressive form at the European Junior Swimming Championships as she booked her place in the final of the 200m breaststroke in Israel.
McSharry, who yesterday claimed gold in the 50m breaststroke event, continued her fine form as she eased through the preliminaries winning her heat in 2:29.63 and then secured her place in semi-final in third place overall.
The 16-year-old then lowered her time to 2:29.42 to advance to tomorrow’s final.
Speaking afterwards McSharry said: "I did really well and I was really happy with the swim. It’s difficult to jump from the extreme of the 50m having to stretch it out to the 200m.
"I’m still learning how to do the 200m but I definitely think I did it well this evening. I’m going to try my hardest (tomorrow), I’d love to medal, it would be amazing especially as I came 6th last year."
In this morning’s heats both Robbie Powell and Jack McMillan swam personal best times in the 100m freestyle, Powell touching in 51.25 and McMillan 51.84.
Athlone’s Powell returned to the pool shortly after for the 200m butterfly where he clocked 2:10.26.
Following the 800m freestyle yesterday Rachel Bethel was back in action in the 400m freestyle where she touched in 4:20.28 and swimming in the same heat as McSharry in the 200m breaststroke Niamh Coyne was 18th overall in 2:34.54.
