Mona McSharry wins The Irish Times/Sport Ireland Sportswoman of the Month award

You might well have thought you’d seen the last of the celebrations of our sportswomen’s 2018 feats but because our 2019 monthly awards begin, somewhat quirkily, with December 2018, we have one more name for you to salute: Mona McSharry.

It was back in June of 2017, at the age of just 16, that the Sligo swimmer became one of our youngest ever winners of a monthly award after an outstanding week at the European Junior Championships in Israel when she won two gold and one silver medal, breaking a bunch of Irish records en route to those triumphs.

She maintained that form in the World Junior Championships the following month when she became the first Irish swimmer to win gold in the event, breaking the national senior record when she won the 100 metres breaststroke.

The teenager had, then, given us a fair indication of her talent and potential as she moved in to the senior ranks, and while she has admitted that 2018 had its challenges, not least trying to compete at the highest level as she entered her Leaving Certificate year, she ended it in some style at the Irish Short-Course Championships in Lisburn in December.

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Personal bests

In the space of just three days McSharry collected six titles – 50, 100 and 200m freestyle, 100 and 200m individual medley and 100m breaststroke – as well as breaking six national records. Just about every time she dipped her toe in the pool she was excelling.

The highlight for McSharry was the breaking of Michelle Smith’s 23-year-old 100m freestyle record which she lowered again in the final later in the same day. And by registering a string of personal bests, breaking a number of her own records in the process, the member of Marlins Swimming Club in Ballyshannon completed her year on the ultimate high.

Next up for McSharry are the national championships at the end of March with July’s World Championships in South Korea the year’s key event. There’s the small matter, too, of the Tokyo Olympics the year after, her plan to take time off from her studies after the Leaving Certificate to focus purely on swimming, especially ensuring she qualifies for those 2020 Games.

Her end of year achievements proved to be a highly fitting conclusion to what was a remarkable spell for Irish sport, our sportswomen providing so many of the most memorable moments in 2018. But McSharry is actually kick-starting our new year of awards and has set the bar high. If we come even close to what was achieved in 2018 we’ll be doing very well. You’d guess, though, that the Sligo teenager has plans on raising that bar even higher.