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.
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.”
Adam Bradley suited up once again this morning, competing in the men’s 100m Breaststroke, stopping the clock in 1:03.54.
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.
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.