John Shortt strikes gold in 100m backstroke at World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships
The 18-year-old from Galway clocked 53.86 seconds in Otopeni, just 0.13 outside Shane Ryan's Irish record.
Silver went the way of Russia's Georgii Iakovlev, swimming under the neutral flag, in 53.94, while Gavin Keogh of the United States rounded off the podium in 54.06.
Speaking after the race, the National Centre Limerick swimmer said: "It feels pretty good, just so much pride at the minute, getting up there and singing my national anthem on a World stage now, not just a European stage.
"I'm just so proud to be Irish and proud to be here. It's been a long season, but to end it like that, it's just so cool.
"The meets not finished, but I'm just saying, the last one hundred back of the season, we've ended on a positive note so, I'm very happy with that.
"The race went really well, I was just holding on for dear life towards the end, but we got the hand on the wall first and that's really all that matters."
Shortt, who is the only Irish swimmer at the championships, will also swim the 50m and 200m backstroke later this week.
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