‘Rugby taught me a lot, the biggest thing was the leadership side of sport’ – The Irish Instances

When John Shortt was welcomed again to Galway Corinthians Rugby Club on Monday night time, carrying his two gold medals and the bronze gained on the World Junior Swimming Championships, it was a double homecoming of types.

It offered the area for Shortt to greet his household and buddies, in addition to some former teammates. Rugby was, in any case, his first sporting love.

Shortt excelled in all three backstroke occasions ultimately week’s championships in Otopeni on the outskirts of the Romanian capital, Bucharest. The 18-year-old from Oranmore, simply east of Galway metropolis, is likely one of the most promising swimmers on this planet. He can be proof of the worth of enjoying a number of sports activities as a teen.

[ The 18-year-old from Galway taking world junior swimming by stormOpens in new window ]

“I was very big into rugby, loved rugby,” he says. “As a kid, you try everything. Your parents throw you into anything, just to get you out of the house. I was into football, a small bit of hurling, all different sports.

“But rugby was the main one for a while. I think rugby taught me a lot and the biggest thing was the leadership side of sport. I take that into swimming. That sounds weird because it’s a solo sport, but we train as a team all the time and are around each other so much. [I am] just trying to be a positive influence over the team.

“I want them all to improve, just as much as I want to improve. So the biggest thing is to make sure whenever we’re in those dark moments in training, when we’re being absolutely killed, we can rely on each other to keep ourselves going . . . and that’s what rugby really taught me.”

After his gold medal heroics within the 100m and 200m backstroke, and bronze within the 50m backstroke, Shortt is simply now taking the time to additionally mirror on his Leaving Cert outcomes. The examination outcomes had been introduced final Friday whereas he was getting ready for his 50m backstroke last.

It is 2 years since Shortt made the massive choice to maneuver away from residence and be a part of the Swim Ireland High Performance squad, primarily based on the University of Limerick (UL). That transfer additionally led to him transferring to Castletroy College to begin his Leaving Cert cycle. By then, he had determined to dedicate his sporting ambitions to swimming.

“Probably under-16, when I was getting a good bit better (at swimming), going down to Limerick more often to do training with the squad. That’s when we just said this was a bit too risky to be doing this (rugby) and the swimming.”

No regrets on that entrance, then. Shortt has determined to stay in Limerick, regardless of a number of gives to attend US universities. He secured sufficient factors in his Leaving Cert to check sports activities science at UL.

“The main pull to UL was firstly my coach (John Szaranek) and secondly, my teammates and my friends. And obviously UL, the college, is fantastic as well. Right now, Limerick is the place where I want to be.”

Ideally, if issues maintain progressing, he’ll be a part of Daniel Wiffen as Ireland’s massive medal hope within the pool on the LA Olympics in 2028.

“Daniel has already been texting me,” says Shortt. “It’s always nice to have an Olympic champion call you a beast, so I can’t complain.”