Olympics Day 2: McSharry books spot in 100m Breaststroke semi-final

It's been another great day for the Irish in Tokyo with some stellar performances keeping a number of Team Ireland athletes in contention.

Swimming

Mona McSharry has claimed a spot in the Women's 100m Breaststroke Semi-Final after placing third in Heat 5.

McSharry posted a 1:06.39, just a shade off her Irish Senior record, giving her the ninth fastest time overall.

The semi-final of the event will be held on Monday.

Earlier, Danielle Hill missed out on qualification in the Women's 100m Backstroke, with a time of 1:00.86.

Rowing

First up this morning, Ireland had four crews looking to secure places in the semi-finals.

In the Women's Pair Repechage, Monika Dukarska and Aileen Crowley finished behind Greece and the USA with a time of 7:31.99, securing them a spot in the semis.

Next up was Aoife Casey and Margaret Cremen in the Lightweight Women's Double Sculls, also finishing third in their Repechage, with a time of 7:23.46, to see them through to the semi-finals.

Sanita Puspure put in a huge performance to claim a spot in the semi-finals of the Women's Single Sculls.
Photo: INPHO/Morgan Treacy

Powering through the quarter-finals, Sanita Purspure took an emphatic first place in the Women's Single Sculls, finishing with a time of 7:58.3 to claim her spot in the semi-finals.

Last in the boat for Team Ireland today was Philip Doyle and Rónán Byrne, who sadly missed out on a place in the A Final of the Men's Double Sculls after finishing sixth with a time of 6:49.06. They will now compete in the B Final, fighting for an overall seventh place.

Gymnastics

After Rhys McClenaghan's bright start for Ireland at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre yesterday, today was the turn of Cork's Megan Ryan.

Competing in the Women's Artistic Gymnastics qualification round, Ryan took to the vault, uneven bars, balancing beam and floor.

After taking 10.466 on the balancing beam, Ryan went on to claim a 12.000 on the floor, bringing her accumulative score to 22.466. The vault gave her an additional 13.200, before she took 11.533 from the uneven bars, leaving her with an accumulative total of 47.199.

Action is still underway in the remaining subdivisions, with the 24 gymnasts with the highest scores across all the subdivisions progressing to the final.

Megan Ryan competing on the uneven bars.

Photo: INPHO/Bryan Keane

Sailing

At Enoshima Island, Annalise Murphy became a three-time Olympian, taking to the water for the first race in the Laser Radial event.

With ten races in all which will span the week, Murphy took 35th in Race 1.

After a delay due to weather, the Dublin woman, who took home the silver medal in the event at the Rio Games in 2016, claimed 12th place in Race 2. Her next outing for Race 3 is scheduled for tomorrow.

Speaking afterwards, Murphy said: "I’m relieved to get the first day out of the way, disappointed it didn’t go as I wanted it to. I did exactly what I didn’t want to in the first race, had a bad race, went the wrong way, didn’t stick with my plan, got caught up in a bit of an incident with another boat.

"I dealt badly with that by freaking out and doing the wrong thing. I had a slightly better second race, I was gaining around the racecourse rather than trying to do damage control which was good. I’m glad the first day is done and I’m looking forward to moving up from here – no more mistakes."

Canoeing

In the Men's C1, Liam Jegou was looking for a top 15 finish after two heats to progress to the semi-finals.

With a time of 174.57 after a missed gate penalty in his first run, Jegou pulled it back in Heat 2, posting a time of 104.4, earning him 11th place and the all-important qualification.

Liam Jegou competing in the Men's C1 heats.

Photo: INPHO/Morgan Treacy

Dressage

Heike Holstein and Sambuca were next up for Team Ireland, competing in the Dressage Grand Prix qualifying round.

Taking a score of 68.432 per cent in Group D, Holstein, a four-time Olympian, secured sixth place.

Speaking afterwards, Holsteing said: "I am really proud of [Sambuca]. When she was a little foal I never thought that we would get this far, it is a long road and lots of things can happen. In 2019 I finally thought, this might happen!"