Roisin Ni Riain

Started: She began swimming at age four at the University of Limerick pool in Ireland. "Around [age] nine or 10, I got into competitive swimming, then when I was 15 I first got into international [Para] swimming." (irishtimes.com, 01 Dec 2023, 19 Aug 2021; Limerick Swimming Club Facebook page, 11 Nov 2019) Reason: "I couldn't really do other sports like hockey and camogie [women's hurling] as I wouldn't be able to follow the ball. But swimming quickly became my focus. I loved it. I have loved it for as long as I can remember. My parents called me a 'water baby' when I was younger. I always loved being in the water." (Her Sport YouTube channel, 27 Jul 2023; irishtimes.com, 19 Aug 2021; Limerick Swimming Club Facebook page, 11 Nov 2019) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. She also has aspirations to become a science teacher. (Instagram profile, 09 Aug 2023; Her Sport YouTube channel, 27 Jul 2023) Milestones: She was the youngest athlete to represent Ireland in any sport at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, competing in the women's S13 100m butterfly at age 16 years and 110 days. (SportsDeskOnline, 10 May 2022) Awards: In 2023 she was named Para Swimming Performance Athlete of the Year by Swim Ireland. (Swim Ireland X profile, 04 Nov 2023) In 2022 she received the Para Swimming Performance Pathway Athlete of the Year award from Swim Ireland. (westmeathindependent.ie, 10 Oct 2022) Additional Info: YOUNG PARALYMPIC DEBUT At age 16 she was the youngest athlete to represent Ireland in any sport at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. "I was very young, for Tokyo, but it was absolutely the experience of a lifetime. I suppose those Games for me were about trying to take in the experience as much as possible, so hopefully I'll be much more familiar when Paris [the 2024 Paralympic Games] comes around. Being so young, it was definitely the longest I've ever been [away] from home, six weeks in all, but there were plenty of people on the team who had experienced all this in the past." (irishtimes.com, 01 Dec 2023; SportsDeskOnline, 10 May 2022) OTHER ACTIVITIES She has served as an ambassador for Sport Ireland's Changing the Game campaign, which promotes diversity and inclusion. "You mightn't know anything about an athlete's specific disability so ask them to tell you what they're experiencing and learn together and see what works." (ilovelimerick.ie, 16 Sep 2022)