2025 EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS
- December 2-7, 2025
- Lublin, Poland
- SCM (25 meters)
- Meet Central
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
- Live Recaps:
Irish 18-year-old John Shortt rebroke his own National Record from the prelims in the semifinals of the men’s 200 backstroke, clocking 1:48.84 to break 1:50 for the first time.
MEN’S 200 BACK – SEMIFINALS
- WR: 1:45.12 – Hubert Kos (HUN), 2025
- WJR: 1:48.02 – Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS), 2017
- ER: 1:45.12 – Hubert Kos (HUN), 2025
- EJR: 1:48.02 – Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS), 2017
- CR: 1:48.02 – Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS), 2017
Top 8 Finishers:
- John Shortt (IRL) – 1:48.84
- Mewen Tomac (FRA) – 1:49.11
- Luke Greenbank (GBR) – 1:49.37
- Jan Cejka (CZE) – 1:49.77
- Lorenzo Mora (ITA) – 1:50.39
- Apostolos Siskos (GRE) – 1:50.99
- Benedek Kovacs (HUN) – 1:51.08
- Ivan Martinez Sota (ESP) – 1:51.15
Shortt earned the top spot out of the men’s 200 backstroke prelims, touching in 1:48.84. He came in about three tenths ahead of Mewen Tomac‘s 1:49.11 for 2nd. With this swim, Shortt becomes the first Irish man to break 1:50 in the event.
He took nearly two seconds off the 1:50.65 record mark he set in prelims, which was more than a half-second faster than the 1:51.37 he swam about a week ago. This marks nearly three seconds dropped in a single day in the event.
| Shortt’s New Irish Record — 1:48.84 | Shortt’s Prelims Irish Record – 1:50.65 |
Shortt’s Pre-Meet Record – 1:51.37
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|
| 50 | 26.05 | 26.41 | 26.75 |
| 100 | 27.94 | 28.13 | 28.56 |
| 150 | 27.54 | 28.17 | 28.32 |
| 200 | 27.31 | 27.94 | 27.74 |
Shortt was faster on all four 50s on Tuesday evening than he was in the morning, with the biggest difference coming in the final 100, where he split 54.85 to come in more than a full second faster than the 56.11 he split in prelims.
Tomorrow, he will race for the gold medal, and, since he doesn’t turn 19 until 2026, he is also eligible for the World Junior and European Junior records. He sits less than a second away from Kliment Kolesnikov‘s 1:48.02 from 2017.
