Mona McSharry is through the final of the 100m breaststroke at the European Short Course Swimming Championships in Copenhagen.
McSharry was up first this morning and looked comfortable winning the first of the seeded heats of her favoured event in 1:05.36, just outside her own Irish record (1:05.27).
The 17-year-old posted the second fastest time of all competitors just behind Finland’s Jenna Laukkanen in 1:04.94.
However, she was third in her semi-final with 1:05.40 and just made it through to the final in eighth place. That race is on Saturday at 4:16pm.
A delighted McSharry spoke after reaching her first senior final: "It's amazing, it’s unreal, to be able to come from juniors into seniors and into a final, top 8 in Europe, that’s a dream really.
"To walk up the ramp and everyone was screaming and shouting and all the tiers filled with people, it’s a great feeling."
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s final, she said: "I think I raced it a little too much today, I need to concentrate more on my stroke count and trust that what I’m doing is going to work a little more tomorrow, but definitely not a bad race."
Alex Murphy, swimming in the unseeded heats, dominated the field in his race in a new Irish record of 57.69, smashing Barry Murphy’s 2013 time of 58.31.
He comfortably qualified for the semi-final in a top-eight position. However, he finished last in the next race in 58.42 to miss out on the final.
Also swimming the 100m breaststroke heats were Darragh Greene, who touched in at 1:00.39 and Nicholas Quinn, who clocked 1:01.53, while Calum Bain swam a personal best time in the 50m freestyle with a strong time of 21.82.
