John Shortt Establishes New Irish 200m Backstroke Records in Budapest

At the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest on Sunday, John Shortt, a 17-year-old swimmer from National Centre Limerick, established new Irish senior and junior records in the 200m backstroke heats. He completed the race in 1:51.60, improving his previous time of 1:52.60, set last month, by one second. Shortt also secured an Irish junior record in the 100m backstroke earlier this week in Budapest, finishing second in his heat and 12th overall in what marked his inaugural World Short Course Championships. Regarding his performance, Shortt stated, “I’m feeling good, two really good swims in one week – in my past two World Championships some swims have been quite disappointing. So to be coming here and getting two personal bests and being 12th in the world is really cool, I’m really delighted with it.” Lottie Cullen, representing Swim Belfast and currently based at the University of Houston, also made her World Championships debut, reducing her personal best in the 200m backstroke by five seconds to secure 13th place overall. Cullen’s time of 2:05.57 surpassed her prior best of 2:10.35, positioning her as Ireland’s second fastest swimmer ever in this event, trailing only double Olympian Melanie Nocher, who holds a time of 2:04.29. Evan Bailey of National Centre Limerick commenced the morning’s events for Ireland by achieving a personal best in the 200m freestyle. The New Ross native recorded a time of 1:43.61 during his World Championships debut, earning him fifth place in his heat and placing him within the world’s top 18.