Nicole Turner

Started: She began swimming in 2009 at age seven at Portarlington Leisure Centre in Ireland. (Athlete, 27 Aug 2024, 21 Aug 2021) Reason: Her parents encouraged her to take up swimming for safety reasons. "My parents didn't want to treat me any differently so they got me involved in sport just like they did with my brothers. I tried athletics and Gaelic football but decided to stick to Para swimming because it was the one I was very good at and the one I mostly enjoyed." (Athlete, 27 Aug 2024, 14 Aug 2018; irishsport.ie, 25 Oct 2019; minniemelange.com, 30 Oct 2014) Ambition: To compete at the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.(Athlete, 27 Aug 2024) Milestones: She was Ireland's youngest medallist in any sport at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, having won silver in the women's S6 50m butterfly at age 19 years and 77 days. (SportsDeskOnline, 21 Jul 2024) Awards: In 2017 and 2019 she was named Para Athlete of the Year by Swim Ireland. (swimireland.ie, 30 Nov 2017, 29 Sep 2019) She and the other members of the Irish team to compete at the 2018 European Championships in Dublin, Ireland, received a Recognition Award at the 2018 Swim Ireland Awards. (dublinpeople.com, 20 Jan 2019) She was flag bearer for Ireland at the closing ceremony of the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (newstalk.com, 18 Sep 2016) Additional Info: FRIENDLY COMPETITION She says she enjoys a friendly rivalry with British Para swimmer Ellie Robinson. "The person I admire the most in my own sport is my biggest rival but she is one of my best friends. Even though we race against each other we always have a laugh in the call room and around the pool and she is one of the people I admire the most. We went to Rio [the 2016 Paralympic Games] together and she beat me then. At the Europeans in 2018 she got gold and I got silver. At the worlds in 2019 she got silver and I got bronze. So I think as time went on I just wanted to beat her even more. Then Tokyo [the 2020 Paralympic Games] was the place where I beat her and I got silver." (punditarena.com, 13 Oct 2021; irishsport.ie, 25 Oct 2019) KEY EVENT She believes that one of the most important moments in her sporting career was the 2009 World Dwarf Games in Belfast, Northern Ireland. "That was my first ever competition against people my own size, and it was there that I met my idol, who I'd looked up to for many years, [British Para swimmer] Ellie Simmonds. Seven years later, I was racing against her at the [2016] Paralympic Games in Rio." (rte.ie, 08 Mar 2019) AMBASSADOR She has served as an ambassador for the Olympic Federation of Ireland's Dare to Believe campaign, an initiative to promote the benefits of sport to Irish students. "I'm proud to be a Team Ireland ambassador and have the chance to share my story with primary and secondary school students through the Dare to Believe schools programme." (Instagram profile, 05 May 2022; leicesterexpress.ie, 12 Dec 2018)