All Around the World, One Goal in Mind

By Cate Mulqueen

In the final stretch of her senior season on Rocky Top, Tennessee swimmer Mona McSharry gave her all in the pool, competing at two of the biggest meets in the sport within a matter of days. In late February, McSharry found herself stepping out of the water at the 2024 Doha World Aquatic Championships to head straight to Auburn University for the SEC Championships.

The Sligo, Ireland, native left competition in Doha on Monday, February 20th, and began swimming for the Vols again on Tuesday, February 19th. With a 15-hour flight, after nine races on the other side of the world and a SEC title to defend behind her, McSharry held true to the overall trend of her career on Rocky Top: She swam fast; faster than most.

In her four seasons representing the University of Tennessee in the pool, McSharry's speed and dominant presence has been evident not only to the Big Orange and across collegiate swimming, but also on an international level.

McSharry boasts a collection of 18 All-American Certificates, 21 SEC medals, four NCAA medals and a history-making appearance in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. With a long, impressive resume, the Irish standout is still yet to be satisfied.

"It's really fun to kind of get up and race and year after year being able to prove to myself that the hard work is paying off and that I'm getting better," McSharry said. "Who doesn't love to win, and be on top and do it for the team?"

In just her first meet on Rocky Top, McSharry set a personal-best time of 1:00.22 in the 100-yard breaststroke to win the event. However, McSharry would top that PR seven times over across her time thus far at Tennessee. From a program-record-setting performance, earning six All-American honors, being a two-time SEC Swimmer of the Week, medaling in both the SEC and NCAA Championships and the many podium appearances along the way, McSharry, justly, was named the 2021 SEC Freshman Swimmer of the Year.

However, the impact that McSharry would have on the Lady Vols swim program was only beginning to unfold, and she would do more than just clean up in Orange and White.

When her first collegiate season came to an end, McSharry was ready to make waves on the international playing field, competing at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where she became the second Irish swimmer in history to compete in an Olympic final. McSharry finished in eighth in the 100-meter breaststroke (1:06.94) and broke her own Irish National Record to finish 20th in the 200-meter breaststroke (2:25.08).

Coming back to Rocky Top for a second year filled with more accolades, McSharry was a key player in the Lady Vols' 2022 SEC Championship team. During the meet, she brought home her first individual gold medal, touching that wall first in the 100 breaststroke. Although she didn't know it then, this would be the start to one of the most dominant runs in SEC history in the breastroke.

When year three came around, McSharry would only pick up the pace.

At the 2023 SEC Championships, McSharry took over the medal podium once more, defending her title in the 100-yard breaststroke, claiming gold for the second year in a row. After winning the 200 breaststroke as well (2:05.11), she became just the second Lady Vol in history to sweep the two events.

Her postseason speed continued to amaze as she owned the pool in the 2023 NCAA Championships. McSharry finished as the national runner-up in the 100 breast behind a program record of 57.16, claimed another program record in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:04.58 in her fourth-place finish, and helped the 400 medley relay take fifth overall with a strong 3:27.92 effort.

Now in her senior season, McSharry continues to strive not just for more, coming off the block, but something entirely unprecedented. After another year of podium finishes and top times, McSharry's postseason speed would be tested as it collided with her international swimming commitments for Ireland's national team.

Different environments, different countries, and different expectations, none of it was able to shake McSharry's will to be fast.

"It's been busy, but really enjoyable," McSharry said. "There's been a lot of travel, a lot of competing in different environments."

Her speed never diminished, but her limits and skills were tested when she swam in back-to-back meets in the World Aquatics Championship in Doha, Qatar, before heading to Auburn to compete in the SEC Championships.

"It was crazy," McSharry said. "I finished the 50 breaststroke final on Sunday night, got back to the hotel, started packing, doing all the things and then was up at 4 a.m. to head to the airport and hop on a 15-hour flight. Matt Kredich picked me up in Atlanta, and we drove to SECs."

In Auburn, McSharry swam in 10 races, making the final for every event she competed in. She won two individual SEC Championships in the 100 breast (57.00) and 200 breast (2:03.84), had one gold and three silver medal-winning relay appearances and an individual bronze medal in the 50 free.

She became the first female swimmer in the conference to win three straight titles in the 100 breast since 1997-2000, and she set the SEC Championship Meet record in both breaststroke events. McSharry lifted the Lady Vol 400 medley relay to a gold thanks to a blazing-fast 55.94 split in the 100 breast, making her the second swimmer in NCAA history to go sub-56 seconds.

"I was honestly surprised by how well I performed at SECs," McSharry admitted. "I kind of left it pretty open. I didn't really put any expectations on myself, because I know from past worlds that nine days of intense competition can be tough. It's pretty draining, and so I just wanted to go and soak up the team atmosphere as much as possible and do what I could."

Expectations or not, McSharry would go on to win the 100 breaststroke gold, defending her title and three-peating the victory.

"Starting off that first relay on Tuesday night, we had so much fun and I swam pretty speedy, so I was like 'OK, this is kind of exciting. Let's just keep the ball rolling here. We've got this.'" McSharry said. "I think what really helped was having the team and SECs being such a powerful environment. I honestly don't think there's an atmosphere like it. Even at the Olympics, I think SECs is louder. I trying to channel that and use that to my advantage."

It was by less than a second that McSharry missed the gold at the 2023 NCAA Championships in the 100 breast. Ending her junior season as the runner-up proved to be both a solidifying and motivating experience for how she intended to approach her senior year.

"I think knowing that I was so close and able to compete at that top level with all the other athletes just really got me fired up and confident in my ability to come back this year and swim even faster," McSharry said. "It was really exciting to break the 57-seconds mark, and I really want to do that again and just try to get my hands on the wall first."

This week, she has the chance to claim the final milestone on her successful career: win a national title. McSharry enters the NCAA Championships as the favorite to win the 100 breast and ranks No. 2 overall in the 200 breast. She's also a member of Tennessee's relays that are projected to finish inside the top eight nationally.

Thinking back to the highs and lows of developing as an athlete and reflecting on her career while she is in the running for a national title, McSharry thought of what she would say to herself before the medals came.

"I would remind her of all the fun and enjoyment that swimming can bring on a day-to-day basis. It's not even just for the competitions, but during training," McSharry said. "I would try to get her excited for that again, because that is the best part. Worlds and SECs are definitely really interesting, definitely really different, but it's been a lot of fun and it gets me excited for the summer."

McSharry does, indeed, continue to train. The summer holds more promise as McSharry looks to Paris, where she will be competing in her second Olympic Games for Ireland.

Her name isn't difficult to find in Tennessee record books. McSharry's name tops three events: the 100 breast (56.87), 200 breast (2:03.84) and as a member in the 400 medley relay squad (3:24.92). She additionally holds 15 top-10 times across six events.

McSharry finds herself alone at the top of podiums, alone at the top of record books, and alone in holding an unmatchable, non-imitable standard of excellence that wins gold medals.

University of Tennessee Athletics

By Cate Mulqueen

Players Mentioned

Mona McSharry

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