With an impressive start, Mona McSharry, representing Ireland, is capturing attention in the swimming world. She kicked off her 100 metres breaststroke efforts by achieving the third fastest time during the initial heats and then went on to break an Irish record, achieving a personal best in the semi-finals. She was the runner-up to Tatjana Smith from South Africa. The competition ahead is quite tough, and while no commitment can be made about her nabbing a medal, her performance in the final on Monday night (8.25pm) should certainly not be overlooked.
In the meantime, the Irish men’s hockey team is gearing up for their next challenge against Australia, which is considered to be the world’s third-best team, following their 2-0 loss against Belgium.
Following this, Ireland will have competitors participating in activities such as rowing, swimming, equestrian sports, and sailing. After suffering a defeat against Britain on Sunday, yet bouncing back with a 38-0 victory over South Africa, our women’s rugby Sevens team is preparing to round up the group stage against group leaders, Australia.
Around 2.30, Liam Jegou will be warming up for his canoe slalom semi-final, and only 16 minutes later, Kellie Harrington braces to step into the ring to commence the defence of her Tokyo gold medal against Alessia Mesiano of Italy.
Badminton player Nhat Nguyen is looking forward to his second pool game after triumphing over his Israeli adversary in a thrilling opening match. He will be up against Prince Nahal of Nepal, who he is expected to defeat, before his pivotal pool match against the current Olympic champion, Viktor Axelsen.
Don’t miss out on watching: The men’s street final in skateboarding that was to be a highlight on Saturday was postponed because of the poor weather. Hopefully, it will happen on Monday, with the event scheduled to begin at 4pm. The competitors would be delighted – or using skateboarder’s slang, “stoked” – if the event takes place.
Here’s a summary of the Irish activities on Monday, 29th July:
At 9am – Men’s Hockey game: Ireland vs Australia
From 9.30am onwards – Equestrian Jumping Team & Individual: Contestants include Austin O’Connor, Sarah Ennis, Susie Berry.
The schedule commences at 10am with a lightweight double sculls repechage by Margaret Cremen and Aoife Casey in rowing. Next, at 10.06am, we have Ellen Walshe competing in the 400m IM heat, closely followed by Danielle Hill at 10.19am in the 100m Backstroke heats. Daniel Wiffen will participate in the 800m Freestyle heats at 10.58am. Between 11.05am onwards, we can look forward to Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove competing in races 4-6 of the sailing, skiff category. Women’s Rugby Sevens match featuring Ireland against Australia is set to start at 1.30pm. Following that, from 2.30pm, Liam Jegou will compete in the Canoe Slalom – C1 semi-final and final. At 2.46pm, Kellie Harrington will box against Alessia Mesiano from Italy in the 60kg Round of 16. Later in the evening, Nhat Nguyen will compete against Prince Nahal in badminton singles at 8.10pm. To conclude the day’s events, Mona McSharry will take part in the 100m Breaststroke final at 8.25pm.