Mona McSharry, the Irish swimming sensation , is buzzing with excitement for her upcoming 200m Breaststroke event at the Olympics.
The 23-year-old from Co Sligo has already secured Ireland's first medal of the games with a third-place finish in the 100m Breaststroke final in Paris and is eager to see what she can achieve next.
After celebrating her initial success with a chocolate muffin back at the Olympic Village, McSharry is now refocusing her energies on Wednesday morning's heat 1 of the 200m Breaststroke, scheduled for 10am.
"The 200m is something that I've really gotten quite fast at," she said. "So I'm trying not to put a lot of pressure on myself but also be excited for the potential in that event and just go out there and have fun."
McSharry hopes to carry forward the enjoyment and confidence gained from her previous heats, semis, and final of the 100m into her next event. She continued: "I can maybe be a little less nervous knowing that I made it through.
"I made it out the other side, so hopefully I can just carry a little bit enjoyment of the moment and soak it all up rather than getting worried about what happens in the event."
McSharry admitted to being slightly apprehensive about turning her phone back on today, anticipating a flood of congratulatory messages following her breakthrough success.
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"I'm a little scared to look at my phone," she confessed. "I think once I start I'm not going to be able to stop. I got to hug my family, cousins, and a big group of Irish people that were down at the bottom behind the podium.
"No words were spoken but a lot of smiles and happiness . I've had a huge shift in the last couple of years in the way that I look at swimming.
"I focused more on enjoying the process of getting faster and enjoying the little moments , rather than the end result, and just knowing that regardless of what happens in the pool, I'll just be so proud of myself."
With the success of Daniel Wiffen, Ellen Walshe, and Danielle Hill Danielle Hill, McSharry has speculated whether there is a leap in the quality of Irish swimming after over twenty-five years of not making it to Olympic finals.
"I don't know, but it's amazing to be a part of ," she said. "Doing it by yourself is one thing, but then having a team around you that are also making finals and semi-finals and doing things they've never done before... I'm just loving every moment for them and knowing they're loving every moment for me is just all what sports is about."
In the meantime, McSharry's dad Aidan was confident that she would make the podium on Monday night: "when we came here I honestly thought that she would get a medal and I'm so delighted for her that she did."
Mom, Fiona, expressed pride at how her daughter spoke about the struggles in the sport that she experienced in 2022, and how she almost quit swimming altogether.
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"I am so proud of her for being so open about her feelings when things weren't going so well, to be able to say, 'no, I'm struggling' and then to turn it around and come back and do this is just brilliant," Fiona said. "She is amazing."
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