Ireland’s John Shortt Breaks World Junior Record With 1:47.89 200 Backstroke

2025 EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS

• December 2-7, 2025
• Lublin, Poland
• SCM (25 meters)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Live Recaps:
  • Prelims: Day 1 | Day 2
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 2

Ireland’s John Shortt, 18, set a new World Junior Record time in the men’s 200 backstroke, swimming 1:47.89 to win the European Championships final.

MEN’S 200 BACK – Final

• 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

1. John Shortt (IRL) – 1:47.89 ***World Junior, European Junior, Championship Record***
2. Mewen Tomac (FRA) – 1:48.62
3. Jan Cejka (CZE) – 1:49.43
4. Luke Greenbank (GBR) – 1:49.48
5. Lorenzo Mora (ITA) – 1:49.74
6. Apostolos Siskos (GRE) – 1:50.26
7. Benedek Kovacs (HUN) – 1:51.38
8. Ivan Martinez Sota (ESP) – 1:51.58

Shortt took about two tenths off Kliment Kolesnikov‘s former WJR and EJR time of 1:48.02 from December of 2017, becoming the first junior swimmer in history under 1:48 in the event.

He has been on a roll this meet in the 200 backstroke, starting with a new Irish Record in the prelims of the event, dropping half-a-second from his own Irish Record time to swim 1:50.65.

In the semifinal, he lowered that mark again, breaking 1:50 in the event for the first time to touch in 1:48.84. He took another second off that swim tonight to mark four seconds dropped over the last two days.

He further lowers his own Irish national record in the event, which he had already broken three times this year.

Split Comparison

The biggest difference in splits comes from the middle 100, where Shortt out-split Kolesnikov 54.44 to 55.32. Shortt was out much faster today than he was yesterday, splitting 1:20.22 on the opening 150 to come in more than a second faster than the 1:21.53 he split yesterday.

Shortt will also move up to the #12 performer in history in the event, jumping Shaine Casas, who sits at 1:48.01 from the 2022 SC World Champs.

Top 13 Performers in History

1. Hubert Kos (HUN) — 1:45.12
2. Mitch Larkin (AUS) — 1:45.63
3. Arkady Vyatchanin (RUS) — 1:46.11
4. Evgeny Rylov (RUS) — 1:46.37
5. Ryan Lochte (USA) — 1:46.68
6. George du Rand (RSA) — 1:47.08
7. Ryan Murphy (USA) — 1:47.34
8. Radoslaw Kawecki (POL) — 1:47.38
9. Thomas Ceccon (ITA) — 1:47.49
10. Markus Rogan (AUT) — 1:47.64
11. Leon Marchand (FRA) — 1:47.68
12. John Shortt (IRL) — 1:47.89
13. Shaine Casas (USA) — 1:48.01

Jan Cejka Breaks Czech Record to Win Bronze

Bronze medalist Jan Cejka broke his own Czech record in the event, setting his first personal best time in four years, touching in 1:49.43.

He takes about half-a-second off his former record time of 1:49.93 from the 2021 SC World Championships.

This marks Cejka’s 2nd Czech record of the year after he set broke the long course 200 backstroke record at the 2025 World Championships in Singapore, swimming 1:55.37 to finish 6th overall.

Split Comparison