For most college students, a lot of time is spent trying to find our purpose in life. We spend much time worrying over whether we are taking the right career path and fretting over what life will hold after college. Ben Griffin, however, is clear and exact when speaking about his main aspiration.
“My training partner Brendan (Hyland) and I want to be the first ever Irish male swimmers that never left the country to qualify for the Olympics,” says Griffin, barely blinking.
“There aren’t any Irish swimmers that qualified for the Olympics having stayed in the country. They’re all training in Canada, in Edinburgh or in Loughborough (Leicestershire). So (for us) to qualify would be massive.”
Indeed, Griffin is not short of inspiration when he splashes into the pool every morning at 5 o’clock in the National Aquatic Centre, when he trains with Irish Olympian Shane Ryan, a native of Drexel Hill, Pa. – nine miles west of Philadelphia.
“It was an inspiration to watch Shane Ryan qualify for the Olympic semi-final. For people like myself, who haven’t got that far yet, it’s a massive motivation to see that it can be done.
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