IN 2023, Mona McSharry nodded in agreement when she was told that an Olympic year meant she might not perform to her potential at the World Championships.
When the reality hit in Doha in February, it was not quite as easy to accept but it will soon be forgotten about if she can excel in Paris later this month.
McSharry became disillusioned with swimming from 2021 to 2022 but found her mojo again to put in an impressive showing at the Worlds in Fukuoka 12 months ago.
She came fifth in the 100m breaststroke and her only disappointment was that the new national record she set in her heat would have been good enough for a silver.
That was also her position in Qatar five months ago, although her time was 0.35 seconds slower, much to her frustration, even if there was a reasonable explanation.
McSharry said: “It was challenging to not swim my fastest in Doha even though I knew going into the meet that I wasn’t fully tapered and not really prepared to swim top speeds.
“It’s always hard to go to a big meet like that and know that with your times you could be possibly medalling and it’s just not coming together at that time.
“It was really hard to process during that moment and it took me some time to but my main goal is to be fast this summer.
“If that means that throughout the year I’m not going to peak at different meets, I have to be OK with that.
“I remember sitting down with my coach after the World Championships in Japan and we spoke about the fact that we qualified for the Olympics so early.
“My main goal was to train as hard as possible for the year.
“He asked me if I was OK with the fact that I might not swim that fast if I’m training really hard, and I said yes in the moment. It was easier to say yes then.
“Then of course when you go away to a meet, you realise then that you’re not going to be at peak form.
“I was on the phone with him as much as possible, talking to him.
“He reassured me that just because I’m not swimming fast there doesn’t mean I’m not going to swim fast this summer.
“That’s always the automatic thought, when you go slow you’re like, ‘I’m never going to go fast again, this is it for me’.
“I was trying to just reframe and be like, ‘OK well look at what you’ve done in the last couple of weeks’.
“I had a busy February. I went to Doha and flew straight to the SECs (Southeastern Conference) and competed at SECs and actually swam quite well.
“And then a month later, I competed at the NCAAs and swam well.
“So I think having those races gave me a little bit more confidence.
“They were short-course yards but you’re still racing and I was swimming fast there.
“I’m really excited about the hard work that I’ve put in and I’ve gotten a lot of race experience.
“I’m just going to try and pull that all together the next couple of weeks.”
US-STAY
She will remain at the University of Tennessee — where she has been based for the past four years — until Sunday week when she will travel to Dublin before moving into the Olympic Village on July 23.
The Sligo woman is in no doubt what being based in the American college has done for her career.
She said: “I love the push that I get daily from training with people that are as fast as me or faster and that may not necessarily be specifically in the 100m breaststroke long course.
“But there’s always people to race. There’s people that are better than me in the gym, there’s people that jump higher than me.
“There’s people that are more flexible than me and there’s always something that I’m aspiring to be better at. I think that that’s the biggest takeaway from here.
“I also learned a lot about working on a team which is not something you experience or at least I haven’t experienced as much just because of the small programme that I came from in Ireland.
“I didn’t have a lot of team-mates to train with and so working with a group of 70 athletes who are all striving for the same goals is really nice.
“I’ve always said that I’m here to race and swim in the collegiate system, I couldn’t care less about school.
“But it’s awesome that I have been able to get a degree and I think that’s given me something to focus on. I’ve enjoyed it.”
FUTURE UNDETERMINED
She envisages herself remaining in America beyond finishing up in Tennessee next year and putting her qualification to good use in the strength and conditioning field.
The 23-year-old is unsure if she will swim beyond 2025 but her goals for Paris are clear, as she revealed her relief at being able to compete in the 200m as well as the shorter distance.
She said: “A while ago, I was on the pool deck crying because I thought that I wasn’t going to be able to swim the 200m which I was struggling with, almost feeling greedy because I’m already going to the Olympics for an event so why am I so upset that I can’t swim two?
“But we found this last meet in Canada and so decided we’d go out there and give it a shot.
“I flew out on a Thursday and raced the 100m Friday and raced the 200m Saturday and dropped over two seconds from my best times.
“I knew a 2:22 was coming based on how I was training but I felt like it was coming for the last two years and it just hasn’t happened. It’s funny how it just clicked.
“I’m always trying to do better than I did before.
“It’s rare that you see best times in finals and it’s usually just about who’s mentally and physically ready to go.
“Once I get to the final I’ll just try and get my hands on the wall above as many people as possible and hopefully that’s top three.
“If it’s not, I know that I’ve given it my best.”