The 18-year-old from Galway taking world junior swimming by storm – The Irish Occasions

When John Shortt gained his second gold medal on the World Junior Swimming Championships on Sunday night, including to the bronze medal additionally gained final Friday, he single-handedly positioned Ireland ninth on the ultimate medal desk.

Shortt was the only real Irish competitor within the six-day championships, staged in Otopeni on the outskirts of the Romanian capital Bucharest, and his close to full domination of all three backstroke occasions turned loads of heads in worldwide swimming. His fashion and execution of performances had been significantly spectacular.

After first successful the 100m backstroke gold final Wednesday, the 18-year-old from Galway gained bronze within the 50m backstroke on Friday – the identical day as he bought his Leaving Cert outcomes – then added one other gold within the 200m backstroke, his favorite occasion, this time successful by nearly two seconds.

With over 100 competing nations, his double gold and bronze positioned Ireland ninth among the many 25 international locations that gained medals, forward of some conventional swimming powerhouses equivalent to Australia (who completed twelfth), and in addition Germany (seventeenth) and Canada (twenty first).

Shortt additionally grew to become solely the second Irish swimmer to win a World Junior title, the biennial championships staged since 2006, after Mona McSharry gained the 100m breaststroke gold (and the 50m breaststroke bronze) again in 2017. Last summer time, McSharry graduated to the Olympic medal podium, successful the 100m breaststroke bronze in Paris.

In successful the 200m backstroke, Shortt grabbed the lead from the beginning gun and by no means relinquished it, his time of 1:56.19 breaking his personal Irish junior and senior report, the 1:56.61 which he posted to win the Irish Open in April. In successful the 100m backstroke, transferring from third to first within the second 50m, he added to the European title he additionally gained in that occasion in June.

Shortt’s backstroke success in Otopeni could also be unprecedented for Irish swimming, however it’s no shock in any respect to anybody who has intently adopted his rise in worldwide swimming over the past two years. He’s already properly used to listening to Amhrán na bhFiann being performed after his medal successes.

The World and European Junior Championships are for swimmers aged 14-18 and final yr Shortt additionally gained the European Junior 200m backstroke title in Lithuania, and silver in 100m backstroke.

That breakthrough got here after Shortt made the large dedication at age 16 to maneuver away from his dwelling in Roscam, close to Oranmore in Galway, to affix the Swim Ireland National Training Centre in Limerick, below the steerage of head coach John Szaranek.

His transfer from Galway to Limerick additionally meant enrolling in a brand new college for the Leaving Cert cycle, Shortt attending Castletroy College by day, whereas additionally coaching twice a day on the pool on the University of Limerick, alongside different Irish worldwide swimmers equivalent to Evan Bailey, Jack Cassin, Eoin Corby and Ellie McCartney.

Although there was no notable swimming background in his household, Shortt was inspired to affix the tryouts at Bluefin Swimming Club, positioned in Clarinbridge, and shortly started making an impression in aggressive occasions.

Last season he was decided to chase qualification for the Paris Olympics, and fell simply .40 brief when clocking 1:57.90 for the 200m backstroke on the Irish Olympic trials in Dublin in May 2024.

Watching McSharry win her Olympic bronze, then Daniel Wiffen win gold within the 800m freestyle after which bronze within the 1,500m freestyle, offered Shortt with some added inspiration going into final yr’s European Junior Championships, the place he first introduced himself on the worldwide scene after successful that 200m backstroke gold.

Juggling his twice day by day swimming coaching classes alongside along with his Leaving Cert was a tricky burden for 2025, however Shortt additionally gained some extra senior expertise earlier summer time when he certified for the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, the place he completed fifteenth total within the 200m backstroke (1:57.30), and in addition helped Ireland to 14th within the 4×200m freestyle relay.

Shortt will now transfer into the senior ranks correct for 2026 (he turns 19 subsequent February), and regardless of a number of presents of a scholarship to attend a US college, together with the University of Tennessee which McSharry attended, he has determined to proceed to base himself in Limerick, aiming to check sports activities science on the University of Limerick.

After every of his three medal wins in Otopeni, he additionally paid tribute to his coach Szaranek: “The strategy that my amazing coach [John Szaranek] put into place was we had to be out with the guys,” he mentioned after his 100m backstroke gold.

“Because they were out so much quicker than me last night, and you know they were beating me to the first 50m, so you know as long as I went with them, I knew I had a chance to come back quicker than they did. And that’s exactly what happened, so all part of my brilliant coach’s strategy.”

He additionally believes his World Junior success will present the perfect basis for additional success, ideally on the subsequent Olympic stage in Los Angeles in 2028.

“It’s everything, because, 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.”