Ireland’s Shane Ryan shared a video of a very quick 24.5 50 backstroke that he swam in a long course time trial this week as he finished out the summer with some speed work at his training base in Dublin. The time, although not official, was within a tenth of a second of the winning time from the 2019 World Championships where Zane Waddell won the final at 24.43.
Ryan swam at the 2019 Worlds in the 50 back but withdrew from the semi finals after placing 11th in the heats at 25.10. His best time in the 50 back is a 24.32 from the heats at the 2018 European Championships.
Shane Ryan also shared a video of a 100 butterfly time trial in short course meters where he swam a 50.4 while going out in a 22.7. The opening split unofficially breaks his own record of 22.96 from eight months ago while the 100 time is faster than the current Irish record held by Brendan Hyland set in December 2019.
Shane Ryan was a gold medalist at the 2017 World University Games in the 50 backstroke, and has also earned a bronze medal in the same event at the 2018 World Short Course Championships and the 2018 European Long Course Championships. Ryan swam four years at Penn State University where he was the Big Ten Swimmer of the Championships in 2014, and was also a three-time Big Ten Champ in the 100 back as well as 2014 champ in the 100 free.
Ryan’s highest NCAA finish was second in the 100 backstroke in 2014 and third in 2015. He represented Ireland at the 2016 Olympics and was as high as 16th in the 100 backstroke. He will be making his ISL debut with the Toronto Titans this upcoming season.