The Swim Ireland Awards which took place on Friday evening at the Dunboyne Castle Hotel in Meath and three Irish Paralympians won big on the night coming away with three of the accolades handed out on the night. Róisín Ní Riain was named as one of the Swim Ireland Athletes of the Year while Ellen Keane was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Ellen Keane was inducted into the Swim Ireland Hall of Fame. She was honoured for an emphatic career that spanned five Paralympic Games. Keane won Paralympic bronze in Rio de Janeiro and followed that up by winning Paralympic gold in Tokyo, both in the 100m Breaststroke (SB8).
Commenting on social media Keane said; “Reflecting on an emotional moment Friday night being inducted into the Swim Ireland hall of fame. My whole life has been about swimming and being in the water, and it is such an honour to be recognised by Swim Ireland like this. Thank you.”
Paralympic silver and bronze medallist Róisín Ní Riain won Performance Para Swimmer of the Year Award for her success at the Paris Games. In the 100m Backstroke (S13), Ní Riain stormed to second place in a time of 1:07.27 to win her maiden Paralympic medal, in what is already an impressive career, which includes a World Championship gold in the same event. She followed this up with bronze in the final of the women’s 200m Individual Medley (SM13) on day six of the 2024 Paralympic Games this summer.
She also came extremely close to the podium in two other events. In the 100m Butterfly Final (S13) Ní Riain finished fourth in a time of 1:06.04, a mere .04 of a second off her lifetime best and just over half of a second off a podium place. In the the 100m Breaststroke Final (SB13) she came in fourth-place in a time of 1:19.16.
Ní Riain’s National Centre Limerick Coach John Szaranek and Head Coach of Temp,leogue Swim Team and coach to Olympic finalist Ellen Walshe, Brian Sweeney, were jointly awarded the Performance Coach of the Year Award.
Derry native Dearbhaile Brady was also honoured winning the Female Performance Pathway Award for Para Swimming having won World Series and European Championships medals, and making her Paralympic debut finishing an impressive 5th in the 50m Butterfly.
