Davison and Shortt Advance to European Semi-Finals in Slovakia; Men’s Relay Break Freestyle Record
The penultimate morning of racing was action-packed for Ireland’s swimmers at the 2025 European Aquatics Junior Championships in Samorin, Slovakia. The morning included a return to racing for newly minted bronze medalist John Shortt and tonight’s 100m Freestyle Finalist Grace Davison, who both advanced through the rounds in the 100m Backstroke and 200m Individual Medley, respectively. While an Ireland Men’s team set a new Irish Junior Record in the 4x200m Freestyle Relay.
John Shortt, who is a 2024 European Junior silver medalist in the 100m Backstroke, advanced through the heat as second fastest qualifier with a time of 55.44 and will return to the pool this evening for the semi-final.
Speaking after the race, the National Centre (Limerick) swimmer said “I’m very happy with that, it was quite a chill race, I wasn’t pushing it too much, it’s nice to get in after last night, sport is all about bouncing back, hopefully I can progress and see what I can do. I think that was the first race I didn’t hit the lane rope, thank God, so that’s good.”
Straight off the back of an exciting Friday night, Grace Davison was back in the pool, featuring in the women’s 200m Individual Medley. The Ards swimmer came through the heat in a time of 2:18.47 to move through the round in thirteenth position.
The Paris Olympian will feature tonight in both the 100m Freestyle Final, the reigning bronze medalist from 2024, and the 200m IM semi-final.
Speaking in the mixed-zone, Davison said “I was just trying to do as little as I could to make the semi-final, I’m swimming the 100m freestyle first, then the 200m IM, so it’s just about making the final. It’s like anything, once you are in the final, it’s anyone’s game, progressing through was all I needed to do.
I was buzzing last night, it was about resetting, sometimes that be hard. I’m looking forward to tonight. I’m going to forget about the 200 IM for now, it’s all about the 100m, then I’ll quickly shift mindset for the 200 IM.”
An exciting Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay, consisting of John Shortt, Denis O’Brien, Luca Power, and Sean Donnellan, combined for a new Irish Junior Record of 7:33.36. The quartet broke the 2018 record of 7:33.73 set at the European Junior Championships and held by Robbie Powell, Cadan McCarthy, Finn McGeever, and Jack McMillan. Both McGeever and McMillan went on to represent Ireland at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games in that same event.
Lucy O’Brien put on the green jacket on two occasions this morning, firstly for the women’s 50m Butterfly, clocking 28.05, just outside of her personal best (28:00). There was a quick turnaround for the National Centre (Limerick) swimmer, heading back out for the 200m IM, finishing in a time of 2:25.47
The 16-year-old, competing in her first international for Ireland, spoke following the race “It wasn’t bad, it knew it was going to be hard with the double, I don’t really mind that time, it felt good. It’s quite warm, it can be draining by the end of the week. I was really excited, I didn’t really mind how the performances went, it was more about getting in and enjoying it.”
Adam Bradley suited up once again this morning, competing in the men’s 100m Breaststroke, stopping the clock in 1:03.54. In the women’s event, Ireland was represented by two promising swimmers, Ava Jones and Niamh Connery, both competing at the European Juniors for the second consecutive year. Jones, who clocked 1:11.66, was just over half of a second off her personal best, while Connery closed out her campaign with a time of 1:11:33.
Speaking after the race, Jones said: “It’s not the time I wanted; I tried to stick to my race plan, I was happy with first 50m, I’ll go back and look at my splits and then go back and see what we can fix. I’ve learned a lot since the last one (European Juniors 2024), a lot more around sport and the environment, it’s definitely different racing outdoors compared to last year indoors. It’s a lot bigger team that last year, the support from everyone is unreal and everyone is getting on really well.”
The men’s 100m Freestyle was the first event on a busy morning for Team Ireland as Matthew Hamilton and Reuben Alty headed to the blocks. Hamilton, who featured in two European semi-finals this week, came through the race in 51.76. While Alty, who was making his international debut this week, clocked 52.96, both swimmers closed out their individual campaigns for the week.
Also competing this morning was Adeline Cloutier, who finished out a busy week in the pool, swimming a time of 1:05.64 in the women’s 100m Backstroke. In the 50m Butterfly, Matthew Hamilton, swimming in his second event of the morning, and Thomas Bugler were both on the blocks, Hamilton clocking 24.97, while Sundays Well man Bugler closed out his international debut in 25.56.
Tonight, will see both Grace Davison (100m Freestyle Final, 200 IM Semi-Final) and John Shortt (100m Backstroke Semi-Final) head to the blocks once again.
European Aquatics Junior Championships Day 5 Results
Men 100m Freestyle Rueben Alty, 52.96, Matthew Hamilton, 24.97
Women 100m Backstroke Adeline Cloutier, 1:05.64
Men 100m Breaststroke Adam Bradley, 1:03.54
Women 100m Breaststroke Niamh Connery, 1:11.33, Ava Jones 1:11.66
Men 100m Backstroke John Shortt, 55.44 (2, Q)
Men 50m Butterly Thomas Bugler, 25.46, Matthew Hamilton, 24.97
Women 200m IM Lucy O’Brien, 2:25.47, Grace Davison, 2:18.47 (13, Q)
Men 4x200m Freestyle Relay Ireland, 7:.33.36 IJR
European Aquatics Junior Championships Day 5 Finals
Grace Davison, 100m Freestyle Final 5:16pm
John Shortt, 100m Backstroke Semi-Final 5:22pm
Grace Davison, 200 IM Semi-Final 6:03pm
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