Ireland’s John Shortt has confirmed himself as one of the brightest young talents in world swimming with a second gold medal at the World Aquatics Junior Championships in Otopeni, Romania.

The 18-year-old from Galway, already crowned 100m Backstroke World Junior Champion earlier in the week, produced a dominant display in the 200m Backstroke Final on Sunday evening, storming to victory in 1:56.19 – a new Irish Senior and Junior Record.

Shortt, who also won bronze in the 50m Backstroke, led from the very start and never looked back, touching the wall almost two seconds ahead of Italian Daniele del Signore (1:57.99), with the USA’s David Melnychuk (1:58.13) taking bronze. His winning time broke the previous Irish record of 1:56.61 that he himself had set at the Irish Open in April.

“It’s been a long season, but to end it on such a high with a big PB, I couldn’t be happier,” Shortt said afterwards. “Having my family, my coaches, my teammates here, it’s just been amazing, and I’ve loved every bit of it.”

Reflecting on the record-breaking performance, he added:
“It’s not bad, but you know, as my amazing coach John would say, ‘it can always be better’. I’m very glad to come away with the gold and a new senior and junior record – I’m pretty proud of that.”

Shortt was equally honest about the physical toll of the final:
“The first 100 I was like ‘this is cool, this is great’, and the last 50 I was like ‘ow this really hurts, please make it stop’. But then I was at the wall, I’d finished, and I realised I’d won and was like – class.”

The rising star believes the experience gained in Romania will prove vital as he looks ahead to senior championships in the years to come:
“Once you get to those really big finals, like Worlds or the Olympics, you need to be able to call on these experiences and know that you can perform under pressure. After a really good swim this morning, I knew I’d put myself in a position where I could do something really special tonight – and that’s what happened.”

Shortt is due to return to Dublin Airport at 18:25 on Monday, where he will arrive as a double World Junior Champion and new standard bearer for Irish swimming.

 

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