Team Ireland’s swimmer Mona McSharry secured her slot in the 100m Breaststroke semi-final in Tokyo Aquatic Centre today.
The Sligo native’s strong swim of 1:06.39 for third place in her heat was just shy of her PB of 1:06.29. Her 9th place finish overall qualifies her for tomorrow’s semi-final.
“I really burned coming up the last 25m,” McSharry admitted. “I could see the Swiss coming up the right of me. I thought she almost had me, but I really pushed the last 10m. It’s really nice to be competing against great swimmers that are breaking records like that and say that you were in the same race as them.”
Danielle Hill was also in action on Sunday in the Women’s 100m Backstroke heat. She posted a time of 1:00.86 for 3rd place in her heat. She finished in 25th position overall.
Speaking afterwards, Hill said:
“I’m a little disappointed with how it went. I would have liked to perform a little bit better, especially given that it is an evening swim. At the same time, I’m proud to put the Irish hat on and represent Larne as well.”
Boxing
Emmet Brennan was the only Irish boxer in action on Sunday. The Dubliner lost out by unanimous decision in his Men’s Light Heavy Round of 32 bout against Dilshod Ruzmetov of Uzbekeztan.
World silver medallist, Ruzmetov, had a strong opening round, and though Brennan put the pressure on in the second round, Ruzmetov finished strong to progress to the next stage.
Speaking after the fight, Brennan said:
“I’m gutted. It’s an Olympic Games, you come here to win and ultimately, I was beaten in the first fight. He was a good opponent, but a loss is never easy – especially on the biggest occasion in the world. You want to go as far as you can, you know you need a best night every fight and I didn’t have my best night – it’s as simple as that.”
