The Olympic swimming event kicked off to an impressive start for Ireland, securing sixth place on the medal table by day five, courtesy of Daniel Wiffen’s gold win in the 800m freestyle and Mona McSharry’s bronze victory in the 100m breaststroke merely a day prior. Consequently, Ireland sat comfortably above France and Canada, ranked seventh and fifth respectively, while the leaders, Australia and USA, held the top positions.
Day five, however, proved to be a game-changer with France’s Leon Marchand bringing home two individual gold pieces in the 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke. It was the first instance since 1976 that a single swimmer had achieved such a feat in the Olympic games.
In another remarkable occurrence, the Olympic pool witnessed its first world record of the event with China’s Pan Zhanle breaking his previous 100m freestyle record of 46.80 seconds by bringing it down to a striking 46.40 seconds. Nevertheless, it remains noteworthy that the beginning to this event marked the best-ever for Ireland in the Olympic swimming history.
A day and a half after her 100m breaststroke bronze triumph, McSharry returned to the Paris La Défense Arena, this time to compete in the 200m distance. Despite making the semi-finals, her sixth-place finish in 2:24.48 was insufficient to secure a spot in the eight-participant finale.
McSharry’s 11th ranking resulted due to her falling short of her 2:23.98 semi-final time. She entered the semi-finals placing seventh overall but the amplified efforts from American pair Kate Douglass and Lily King along with Tatjana Smith from South Africa, the 100m distance gold winner, overshadowed McSharry’s performance. Right from the 50m mark, she couldn’t keep up and ultimately fell out of competition.
Douglass took home the victory with a time of 2:19.74, closely followed by Smith (2:19.94) and King (2:23.25); McSharry’s intense exertions from the prior days were visibly impacting her performance.
“Admittedly, I anticipated advancing to two finals; unfortunately, it didn’t happen,” she expressed. “I didn’t swim as fast as I should have during the race, and that leaves me feeling disappointed.” She is looking forward to participating in the women’s medley relay in the Olympic pool, which is her last opportunity. In her previous heat, she completed third in a 2:23.98 time, with Smith taking the lead at 2:21.57.
She spoke about her late return to bed on Monday, getting sleep between 4.30 am-5 am but then sleeping till 10.30 am. “The brain took a while to relax,” she commented. She mentioned that she had not yet reviewed the 100m breaststroke race but had seen a few interviews that brought tears to her eyes again. She intends to analyse everything only after the swimming events conclude.
McSharry, three years earlier in Tokyo, rose to fame by becoming the first Irish swimmer to qualify for an Olympic final since Michelle Smith de Bruin. She participated in the 100m breaststroke final, finishing eighth with a time of 1:06.94.
In Paris, three finals had already seen Irish swimmers qualify, including Wiffen and McSharry, as well as Ellen Walshe, who advanced to the 400m medley final, ending in eighth place.
Swim Ireland’s performance director, John Rudd, from Plymouth, acknowledged the progression in Irish swimming. He praised the work done behind the scenes and the people involved in developing athletes, stating that their hard work has resulted in monumental achievements within the past 48 hours. Moreover, he talked about incredibly talented athletes reaching optimum performance at the right moment.
Rudd underscored that the accomplishments of McSharry, Wiffen, and others did not materialise overnight. He said, “It may seem like an overnight success to those who tune into the Olympics every four years to see swimmers winning medals, but Mona McSharry won the world junior championship in 2017, and Daniel Wiffen became a world champion just earlier this year.”
“If they perform impressively at this year’s Olympics, it shouldn’t be too astonishing; it’s not a sudden occurrence but rather a slow process that remains unseen until the Olympics arrive every four years and grab global attention. My aspiration is that half a year from now, discussions and inspiration continue to swirl around these events.”
Moreover, he portrayed Wiffen as someone possessing a unique combination of intellectual, emotional, and exceptional physiological characteristics. Furthermore, he highlighted, “He also exhibits extraordinary confidence and strong faith in himself, among the greatest I’ve encountered. This isn’t interpreted as arrogance or vanity. He utilises this in his daily life, it’s seldom he has an off day at work.”
They still have a handful of working days remaining.