Róisín Ní Riain claimed silver on a night when the baton was passed in the story of Irish Paralympic swimming.
The 19-year-old Limerick swimmer won her first Paralympic medal with a strong second length in her S13 100m backstroke final at the La Défense Arena, but less than half an hour later the golden girl of Irish Para swimming, Ellen Keane, finished fourth in what was her last realistic shot at a podium before retiring at the end of these Games.
Keane, who won bronze in Rio and gold in Tokyo, has been the torchbearer for Para swimming for much of her storied career while Ní Riain has been touted as the rising star of the pool for Ireland since making her Paralympic debut three years ago.
In Paris on Friday night, it felt like the fork in the road moment for both. Each now off on very different journeys.
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“It was really nice to be able to get out there and win a medal and to have all of my friends and family be able to watch makes it even more exciting,” said Ní Riain after winning silver.
The race was won by world and Paralympic record holder Gia Pergolini from the USA in a time of 1:04.93. Ní Riain turned strongly at the wall in joint second place and delivered a powerful second 50 to take second in a time of 1:07.27. Italy’s Carlotta Gilli was third in a time of 1:08.08
It was Ní Riain’s third race in the pool in just two days – having come through the heats of the S13 100m butterfly on Thursday morning and then finishing fourth in the final that evening.
She was able to block out the disappointment of finishing fourth to focus fully on the backstroke, which is her strongest event – Ní Riain is the current world Para swimming 100m backstroke champion and she also holds the world record in the 200m backstroke.
“To be honest, last night I was lying in bed and I was just really excited to get out tonight,” she said.
“I think that’s a really nice way to be. I wasn’t too nervous, I don’t get overly nervous. I get more excited and I’m genuinely very excited every time I get out to race.”
She spent the day chatting on the phone to her sisters, talking anything but swimming. Ní Riain realised herself what she needed to do, and not dwelling on Thursday was clearly near the top of the pile.
“Coming into (the Games) I knew that I had a couple of events, I knew I had last night into today, I had only a final today so I didn’t have to wake up early,” she said.
“I slept in, so that was nice. But I think getting over a race – good or bad – and then moving on to the next race is just as important. You need to not get too wrapped up in it all until the end and then you can have your time to have a bit of fun and celebrate.”
She’s not finished yet in the water either. Ní Riain still has the 200m individual medley and the 100m breaststroke to come on Tuesday and Thursday respectively.
And there is plenty of space left in the bag for more medals.
“It’s a great feeling to win Ireland’s first medal but there’s so much more to come. It’s definitely only the start for Ireland.”
But before Ní Riain had her pinch me podium standing moment on Thursday night, Keane’s ambitions of a third Paralympic medal had come up short. The Dubliner had watched the Treaty woman swim just before entering the arena herself.
“We all knew it was a possibility that Roísín could medal tonight,” Keane said afterwards.
“It was really nice to be able to watch her win a medal. I’m really happy for Róisín, I was sitting watching it in the call room screaming at the TV. I’m really glad she was able to get the medal for Ireland.”
The baton passed.
