19 hours ago
John Shortt secures fifth at European Juniors with personal best in 50m backstroke final
Competing from an outside lane, the National Centre Limerick swimmer touched home in a personal best time of 25.46 seconds, just 0.16 seconds shy of a podium finish. The bronze medal went to neutral athlete Mikhail Shcherbakovov in 25.30.
'I'm quite happy with that, another personal best,' Shortt said after the race. 'It's about re-learning how to swim that race, especially outdoors. I executed everything I wanted to do really well there. I'm a little bit annoyed to miss out on a medal, but I am happy overall.'
Looking ahead to tomorrow's 200m backstroke heats, his signature event, where he's the reigning European Junior champion and top seed, the Galway native spoke of a renewed sense of confidence.
'It's a big confidence boost because the 200m is my main thing,' he added. 'It's good to feel where everyone is at. I think I'm in a really good spot. I'm just proud to be out there. Phelim (Hanley) mentioned earlier how he dreamt of wearing the green jacket, and that's what I needed to be thinking about tonight. The medals are lovely, but it's about being proud to wear the green jacket. Those comments from him earlier were really inspiring.'
As one of the senior members of the Irish squad, Shortt is also embracing a leadership role within the team.
'For some of these guys it's there first time at a European Juniors, I remember my first Juniors two years ago, it's a really hard thing to go and do, they've really stepped up with some good swims and I'm just proud to be maybe giving them a hand as we progress through the week.'
It promises to be a busy morning for Team Ireland, with ten swimmers set to compete across multiple heats from 8:30am Irish time.
