Mona McSharry gives Team Ireland its first Paris Olympic medal in a historic win

The first medal for a team in any Olympics is cause for celebration and such was the case on Monday night when Mona McSharry brought a bronze medal to Team Ireland. McSharry is too young to have seen the last time an Irish swimmer medaled and her victory has paved the way for other medal-winning performances by her teammates

Michelle Smith de Bruin's legacy

It was the Atlanta 1996 games when Ireland last saw this kind of success in an Olympic pool. Michelle Smith was 26 and claimed three gold medals in the 400 meter individual medley, 400 meter freestyle and 200 meter individual relay, as well as a bronze medal for the 200 meter butterfly.

The Olympic champion from Rathcoole, County Dublin, Ireland retired from swimming in 1999 and was educated as a barrister after graduating from King's Inns in Dublin.

The swimming star from Sigo

Some 230 kilometers from Smith de Bruin's hometown is Grange, which the new Olympic medalist calls home.

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McSharry is known for setting several senior national records in both individual events and relays and previously competed in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. At the time of her reaching the finals in those games, The Irish Times called her performance "a paradigm shift for Irish swimming." It also mentioned that the Irish program's success was due to some changes:

"I would say the system is in a very healthy professional state and that's no disrespect to what it was like before. It's just an evolvement and we've built on that. There will be a point in time where someone will build on what we've done and it will go further again."

- Jon Rudd

Monday night's victory for McSharry can certainly be seen as one of those moments where a swimmer has built upon what works. Irish Central quotes her emotional response to the medal::

"It's been a lot of hard work and I think there's always been a little bit of doubt - do I really belong at the top? This proves it. I raced my heart out and to be on the right side of a really tight race is really unbelievable...Regardless of the result, even being able to compete at this level and confidently be in with a chance at medalling and then actually medalling - it's just what sport is about - those really tight races and just having fun."

- Mona McSharry

McSharry will race again on July 31 and we hope she continues to have fun in the 200 meter breaststroke heats.