Limerick's Róisín Ní Riain sets her sights on world records and Paralympics

LIMERICK'S Róisín Ní Riain is set for an incredibly busy year as she aims to book her slot on the team Ireland swimming team for the 2024 Paralympics in Paris this August. 

Róisín, who is in her first year of Sports Science at the University of Limerick, is living a more independent life while living and training on campus. 

"With my visual impairment I can't drive so it's great to have everything so close to me. I can walk to my college classes and then I'm only five minutes from the pool so it makes balancing training and college a lot easier. We have a fairly packed weekly training schedule and living with other swimmers makes my life a bit easier as well."

At only 18 years old Róisín has been pivotal in securing Ireland a female swimming spot at the Paralympics after winning a gold and a silver in the S13 category for visually impaired athletes at the World Para Swimming Championships in Manchester last July after breaking her first long-course world record at the World Series in Berlin in May 2023.

Most recently the Drombanna native has returned from a three week stint in Australia where she won five gold medals at the Citi
Para Swimming World Series in Melbourne, leading Ireland to achieve second place on the overall medals table. This haul of medals has led her to sign with Team Visa, the worldwide payment technology partner of the Olympic and Paralympic
Games.

Speaking after joining Team Visa she went on to talk about her time in Australia stating: "I competed in six different events over there, so it was a packed schedule but a great way to start off the year. We got to compete at an international level and outdoors as well which is a difficult with my visual impairment but it is just trying to adapt and being a bit more focused."

"This year will hopefully be a longer season with the games in August so we have a European championships in April and then our Paralympic trials in Dublin this May and possibly one or two more world series meets, depending on how training is going."

Róisín might possibly differ from other athletes during competitions as she stated "the bigger the race the less nervous" she is admitting that her favourite stroke is backstroke, a competition she has excelled at from a very young age.

"I love racing, I take each one as a learning opportunity and try to not think too far ahead. I love to stand up behind the block before a race with a smile on my face knowing the work I have put in will pay off."

After winning a gold medal at the Worlds in 2023 Ní Riain has secured one spot for team Ireland in Paris, meaning this year she will have to go out and race to meet the minimum qualifying standard time to solidify the slot for Ireland.