Shane Patrick Ryan (born 27 January 1994) is an American-born

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

who competes internationally for Ireland.

Career

Ryan was a 16-time All-American and 11-time All-State honoree as a swimmer for Haverford Senior High School. He was a member of the US National Junior Team in 2010-11 and 2011-12. Ryan initially competed at the US Olympics trials in 2012, finishing in 28th, which did not qualify him for the US team. He subsequently switched his allegiance to Ireland. Ryan qualified to compete in the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

by swimming under the Olympic Qualifying time in the 100m backstroke at the Swim Ulster Dave McCullagh Meet in March 2016.

College

Ryan competed collegiately for

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

where he set school records in the 50 meter freestyle,

100 meter freestyle The 100 metre freestyle is often considered to be the highlight (Blue Ribbon event) of the sport of swimming, like 100 metres in the sport of Athletics. The first swimmer to break the one-minute barrier (long course) was Johnny Weissmuller, in 1 ...

and 100 meter backstroke. He won

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

championships in the 100 meter backstroke in 2014 and 2015 and the 100 meter freestyle in 2014.

International Swimming League

In spring 2020, Ryan signed to th
Toronto Titans
for their inaugural season; the first Canadian-based professional swim team.

World Championships

In December 2018, Ryan won the bronze medal in the 50m backstroke at the 2018 World Short Course Swimming Championships. At the

2016 Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro ...

, he made it out of the heats of the 100m backstroke to qualify for the semi-finals with a personal-best time of 53.85. He finished in last place in the semifinal.

Other

In September 2017 at the 2017 University Games, Ryan won the Gold Medal in the 50m backstroke. In August 2018 at the

2018 European Championships The 2018 European Championships were the first edition of the European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Berlin, Germany, and Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom (with Edinburgh hosting the diving events and Gleneagles ...

, Ryan took bronze in the 50 m backstroke.

Personal life

Ryan's father, Thomas, emigrated from Portarlington, Co. Laois, in the 1980s; Ryan has Irish citizenship through him and can therefore swim under the Irish flag. His mother, Mary Beth Bonner, is also of Irish descent and won the Miss Mayo pageant in 1986. Ryan was raised in

Havertown Havertown is a residential suburban unincorporated community in Haverford Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It is located approximately 9 miles west of the center of Philadelphia. Havertown's ZIP Code is 19083 and "Havertown" is a posta ...

, Pennsylvania, and graduated with a degree in sports management at

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Shane Living people Olympic swimmers of Ireland Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Swimmers from Pennsylvania People from Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 1994 births Universiade medalists in swimming European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Male backstroke swimmers Irish male freestyle swimmers Universiade gold medalists for Ireland Medalists at the 2017 Summer Universiade American male freestyle swimmers Penn State Nittany Lions men's swimmers Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Olympics