Sligo swimmer earns $10,000 bonus for winning third gold in 100m breaststroke

Mona McSharry earned herself a $10,000 bonus by winning gold in the 100m breaststroke at the World Aquatics World Cup in Astana, Kazakhstan.

The Olympic bronze medallist claimed the triple crown title by completing a clean sweep in the event across the three meets of the World Cup series.

Earlier this month, McSharry won the 100m breaststroke final at the opening World Cup meet in Azerbaijan, and followed that up with another win in the event at the second meet in Uzbekistan last week.

On Thursday morning, the 26-year-old was the fastest qualifier from the heats, placing her in the centre lane for the final.

McSharry clocked 1:04.39 to win gold in what was her fastest performance of the series, with Russia’s Evgeniia Chikunova second in 1:04.76.

“There was definitely a bit of pressure,” McSharry said of going for the triple crown. “You want to be able to get better and swim faster, and I was able to do that, so I’m happy.

“Having the tactics to be able to calm the nerves is really important and just going back to being confident in my ability.”

Meanwhile, Ellen Walshe was just outside the medals in the 400m individual medley, finishing fourth in 4:29.27.

The pair will be back in action on Friday; McSharry racing in the 200m breaststroke, while Walshe will go in the 100m IM and the 200m backstroke.