Olympic swimming hero Mona McSharry honoured with Freedom of Sligo

By Philip Rooney, The Sligo Champion

One of Ireland’s heroes of the Paris Olympic Games, bronze medallist Mona McSharry was honoured in her native county of Sligo as family, friends and distinguished guests came together to honour the bronze medalist with the Freedom of County Sligo.

Fresh from heroics in Bangor last weekend where she won three medals at the national championships, Mona became only the second person to be bestowed with the Freedom of the County following on from her fellow Olympian and Grange native, athlete Christopher O’Donnell.

Cathaoirleach of Sligo County Council Donal Gilroy issued a welcome to all present including his fellow elected representatives, members of the executive of Sligo County Council, former Tanaiste Ray MacSharry, Bishop Kevin Doran and Chief Superintendent Aidan Glacken.

Cllr Gilroy quipped that such is Mona’s popularity that “She is like Elvis, she only needs one name. When you say Mona, everyone knows who you are talking about.”

Cllr Gilroy noted that “Excellence often begins close to home” as he paid tribute to Mona’s parents Aidan and Viola and her siblings Mouric and Luca. He also acknowledged the contribution made by her coaches, in particular Grace Meade from the Ballyshannon Marlins Swim Club.

The early morning training sessions paid dividends with Cllr Gilroy noting, “She learned discipline, resilience and competitive spirit. Early mornings and countless lengths shaped her career.”

Outlining some of the significant moments in her career Cllr Gilroy noted that after watching the London 2012 Olympics Mona told her family that she would become an Olympian. By the time she had reached her mid teens she was winning national titles and at the age of 15 narrowly missed out on a place at the Rio Olympic Games in 2016. That disappointment was not to last too long as the following year Mona claimed a gold and bronze medal at the World Junior Championships.

While much of her work is about putting in the hard work away from cameras and publicity but there was a notable exception when Mona, along with her family members were crowned Ireland’s Fittest Family when they triumphed in the popular television programme in 2019.

That same year she was offered and accepted a scholarship in Tennessee with Cllr Gilroy noting, “Her impact in the US was immediate and profound.” He added, “14 national records, seven individual and seven relay places her amongst the outstanding figures in Irish swimming history.”

Referring to the memorable evening in Paris when Mona claimed bronze for Ireland Cllr Gilroy said, “It was a demonstration of nerve, training and true belief. To win an Olympic medal of any colour is the ultimate reward in sport.” Cllr Gilroy said that Mona missed out on the incredible atmosphere in Grange while she was doing her town, county and country proud in Paris.

Bestowing the Freedom of the County upon Mona, Cllr Gilroy remarked, “The Freedom of the County is the highest civic honour, recognising the pride you bring to Sligo and the inspiration you provide to future generations. I believe the best is yet to come. On behalf of the people of Sligo thank you for the hours of training and dedication.

"In granting you the Freedom of Sligo we offer our heartfelt gratitude, pride and best wishes for what we know is yet to come.”

With a beaming smile Mona spoke to invited guests about the “amazing honour” bestowed upon her saying, “This is such a great community. Thank you to everyone here, we tried to reach out to everyone who was part of my journey, thank you to everyone of you. Even if it was a small contribution it meant a lot.”

Mona added, “This is something you probably think is not even possible to achieve and it is so nice to have that recognition and also pass it along to the community that has helped me as well.”

Such civic awards are often handed out at the end of a sporting career but Mona showed last weekend in Bangor that she is still on top of her game saying, “I’m building and growing and that is really exciting. I am trying to enjoy the sport and keep pushing it and see how far can I go.”

With her bronze medal from Paris proudly draped around her neck, Mona allowed her attention to turn to the 2028 Olympic Games in LA as she acknowledged, “It was hard to look at after Paris and set your sights on something four years away. I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to commit to it but now we are a little bit more than two years out and it seems like a pretty short two years, it’s going to fly by so I’m definitely starting to see the path to progression and building towards that.”

Mona also acknowledged that she has rediscovered her love of the sport. Not that she fell out of love with swimming but the relentless schedule had left her contemplating if she had the burning desire to compete in LA. With the 2028 Games coming closer into view Mona acknowledged, “I am enjoying it probably more than I have in a long time.”

Article Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.