John Shortt Tears Up Irish Record Books Once More With First Voyage Inside 1:56 In 200 Back
John Shortt continues to tear up the Irish record books as he went 1:55.70 in the 200 back at the Irish Open in Bangor.
The 19-year-old – who is coached by John Szaranek at the National Centre Limerick – set the previous standard of 1:56.07 at last month’s Giant Open in Paris.
John Shortt: Photo Courtesy: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
On Saturday, he sliced 0.37 from that time to go fourth in the rankings behind Roman Mityukov who soared to top spot at the Swiss Championships hours earlier in 1:55.36 with Pieter Coetze and Hidekazu Takehara having both gone 1:55.57 last month.
It was his second Irish record of the week following his 53.17 in the 100 back and with his 25.08 title in the 50, Shortt claimed a backstroke clean sweep with all of them in championship record time.
While Shortt was in clear water, Neddie Irwin and Emmet Cousins were locked in a duel behind him with the former edging it by a sliver in 2:03.35 to 2:03.36 for a National Centre Limerick clean sweep.
Shortt said through Swim Ireland: “Brilliant, you know, I think the last two weeks have been really solid, in terms of every time I’ve gotten in the water this season I’ve improved. So I think it’s been a really solid last three days and I’m excited to see where the summer goes.”
Wiffen Claims Second Title; Walshe Claims Four
Daniel Wiffen claimed his second title of the week in the 400m freestyle, adding to 1500 gold on the opening night. Double Olympic medallist Wiffen controlled the race from the outset, touching home in 3:49.35. Behind him, his twin Nathan Wiffen and National Centre Limerick’s Cormac Rynn were inseparable as they charged to the wall together, sharing the silver medal in 3:54.12.
Ellen Walshe claimed her fourth national title of the week with victory in the 400m freestyle. Already crowned champion in the 100m and 200m butterfly and the 400IM, Walshe showed her versatility with a personal best of 4:12.54, a time inside the consideration standard for the European Aquatics Championships.
Loughborough’s Fleur Lewis finished second to take commemorative silver in 4:18.93, while National Centre Ulster’s Victoria Catterson secured national silver in 4:19.81. Sundays Wells’ Clare Custer, the 800m freestyle champion, completed the podium with bronze in 4:21.40.
Breaststroke Clean Sweeps For McSharry & Kelly
Mona McSharry also claimed a clean sweep of the breaststroke events with a 1:06.27 victory over 100m. It came a day after she set an Irish record of 2:22.22 over 200m which followed her 30.43 victory in the 50.
She was followed by Ellie McCartney who clocked 1:07.60 for her second silver of the week with Eimear Doyle third in 1:10.52.
Mona McSharry: Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
Jack Kelly completed a hat-trick of breaststroke titles in the 100m where he shaved 0.01 off Darragh Greene’s championship record in 59.91 which he’d matched in prelims. Greene (1:00.60) and Adam Bradley (1:00.81) joined Kelly on the podium, the latter in an Irish junior record.
Kelly is coached by Bob Bowman in Texas where he rubs shoulders with the likes of Leon Marchand, who won the Olympic 200 breast title among four golds at Paris 2024.
The women’s 200 back proved a tight contest, with Lottie Cullen (National Centre Ulster), Grace Davison (Ards) and Maria Godden (National Centre Limerick) locked in a battle for the medals.
Cullen, already crowned 100m champion, produced a strong finish to take gold in 2:12.23, just 0.14 seconds clear of 100m and 200m freestyle champion Davison, who touched in 2:12.37. Godden secured the bronze medal in 2:14.94.
