JOHN SHORTT has taken to reading about someone’s obsession with something ‘precious’ to avoid the same thing happening to him.
The 18-year-old national 200m backstroke record-holder is one of Ireland’s hopes to be Lord of the Rings at the LA Olympics in 2028.
But he had a couple of accursed years as he came up short in his quest to go the Paris Olympics last year when, in his view, he got his body right but not his mind.
Shortt secured bronze in the final of the 200m backstroke at the European Aquatics Junior Championships in Slovakia last night in a time of 1:58.45, claiming Ireland’s first medal in Samorin.
And the National Centre Limerick swimmer told SunSport: “I probably put a bit too much pressure on myself to get to Paris, because I knew I had it in me.
“I didn’t enjoy training and racing as much as I should have because everything was based around this one meet, to try to get this time.
“So it was, ‘Oh that training session, it wasn’t Olympic standard, that race, that won’t get me to the Olympics’.
“There was a lot of mental stuff and when I got to the trials, I fell apart because I couldn’t handle the mental pressure I put on myself.”
At those trials at the National Aquatic Centre, he swam an Irish record of 1:57.90 — just four-tenths of a second outside the Olympic qualifying time.
Shortt continued: “The time itself was quite good, it was very good, I supposed I’m referring to mentally.
“I felt bad for my dad more than anything else. He’s generally the one who brings me to competitions, staying in hotels and stuff.
“We’d never really had this level of a problem but when we got there, I just wasn’t myself at all. That was a strange competition.”
But faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens and the 14 months since have seen Shortt make some tweaks.
He thinks about the mental side more as he takes the straight road from juniors to seniors.
He explained: “Training is quite . . . not easy, it’s so physical and you are doing 5km or 6km a session. But you can get through it.
“But once you get to a competition, it’s the complete opposite. You’re waiting around all day to swim a race that is less than two minutes long, some even less than 22 seconds long.
“You’re waiting. None of it is physical. It’s how you talk to yourself.
“I learned a massive lesson last year and have brought a lot of it into this season. Just keep it more light-hearted, not to be as serious — just having more fun.”
That is where ‘precious’ comes in. Shortt added: “Reading books is quite good. I’ll sound like such a nerd but I’ve started reading Lord of the Rings.
“One of the boys recommended it. I’d seen the movies — we’re all secretly nerds — and I’ve just started reading the books just before bed.
“I’ve realised, like everybody, I’m spending too much time on the phone, so a half-hour before bed, I put the phone on charge and read a few pages.
“I’m getting through it very slowly. Swimming can take up so much of your mind and your life. It’s nice to go to a place where you’re reading about wizards and all sorts of stuff.”
AMERICAN DREAM
The quest is Los Angeles, having had it on his calendar for a number of years as he made the step to leave the family home in Galway for Limerick two years ago.
He said: “It was extremely difficult, especially for my mam. It’s not normal, sending your kid away that young. But I didn’t do it all by myself, I was in digs, living with a few other college students. I had a lot of help. I’ve done the Leaving Cert now and hope to go to UL.
“The decision to go to Limerick when I did was a no-brainer really. My old club, Bluefin in Galway — it was amazing, I loved it — but it would have been very hard to keep progressing.
“It was a small pool, a 20-metre pool. I needed to be with the top guys, it was an easy decision.”
And it has paid off for the 6ft 4in backstroke specialist.
The Galway man got his PB down to 1:56.61 last April at the Irish Open.
He said: “When I was 16 I was, ‘I’m swimming really good here’. I wasn’t amazing but it was good for that time.
“And then it’s hard to know how do I keep moving because I feel I’m doing brilliant at the minute. But then you naturally keep improving.
“And I suppose I didn’t know if this time it was possible until April 23 when we did World Championship trials and I’d gone sub-two minutes in the 200 back.
“That was kind of what kick-started that I could get to this level. We worked really hard to get to this point. There’s still more improving. There’s never a perfect swimmer. You can keep getting better.”
That has been shown as by lowering his time last April, he smashed his Irish senior and junior record, the championship record and was under the qualification time for this month’s World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.
Being Lord of the Rings looks closer and closer by the day.
