Mona McSharry finished 15th in the semi-finals of the 200m breaststroke at the World Aquatics Championships in in Fukuoka, Japan, after advancing from the heats earlier today.
McSharry, who finished fifth in a stacked 100m breaststroke final and qualified for the Olympics on Tuesday, was fifth in her heat in two minutes 26.59 seconds to qualify 16th overall and went slightly faster at the semi-final stage, clocking 2:26.27, but the Sligo woman missed out on a place in the final.
McSharry started strongly and was in the mix in fifth place at the 150m mark, but she flagged late on to finish eighth.
Speaking after the race, she said: "I'm confused, I need to see the splits and stuff before I can figure out what happened I guess.
"It felt better than this morning, but roughly the same time. I’m quite happy with how I’m taking it out I think, so just look at the positives and hopefully build on it and this is just the first opportunity to qualify it (for Paris 2024), so hopefully I can get it before the Olympics rolls around."
Tokyo Olympic champion Tatijana Schoenmaker was the top qualifier from the semi-finals in 2:21.31.
McSharry returns to the pool on Saturday for the 50m breaststroke heats, a non-Olympic event.
Darragh Greene missed out on progressing to the semi-finals in the men's event despite winning his heat. Greene clocked 2:12.21 to finish 18th.
Sixteen-year-old John Shortt finished eighth in his heat of the 200m backstroke and 22nd overall after recording a time of 1:59.79, while Victoria Catterson clocked 55.56 to finish eighth in her heat of the 100m freestyle and 26th overall.
Tomorrow will see world championship debuts for Max McCusker and Tom Fannon. McCusker goes in the 100m butterfly and Fannon in the 50m freestyle, while Danielle Hill returns to the pool for the 50m butterfly heats.
