Sycerika McMahon represented Ireland in the women’s 100 metres breaststroke and 200 metres individual medley at the 2012 London Olympic Games, finishing 26th in the breaststroke and 22nd in the individual medley – missing the breaststroke semi-finals by just half a second.

She competed at the Games aged 17, having qualified just months earlier. From Portaferry, Co. Down, McMahon began swimming at the age of 11 and trained in Belfast. She announced herself as one of Europe’s outstanding junior swimmers at the 2011 European Junior Championships in Belgrade, where she won gold in both the 400 metres freestyle and the 50 metres breaststroke. Just weeks before the London Games she became the youngest Irish swimmer to win a medal at a major international event when she took silver in the 50 metres breaststroke at the 2012 European Aquatics Championships in Debrecen, Hungary – smashing the Irish record in 31.27 seconds – and also won bronze at the European Short Course Championships in France later that year.

She took up a scholarship at Texas A&M University in 2013 and earned All-America honours as a member of the Aggies’ medley relay. She broke the Irish 100 metres freestyle record in 2013. She retired from competitive swimming in June 2017 aged 22, describing it as an unexpected and difficult decision, and subsequently settled in the United States.