Ellen Keane

Listening to music, going to concerts, cooking, baking, spending time with her dog. (evoke.ie, 28 Apr 2022; skysports.com, 15 Nov 2020; Athlete, 09 Sep 2019)

Winning gold in the SB8 100m breaststroke at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. (the42.ie, 15 Sep 2021; Instagram profile, 26 Aug 2021)

Coach Dave Malone. (Athlete, 21 Aug 2021)

South African Para swimmer Natalie du Toit, Irish Para swimmer and coach Dave Malone. (paralympic.org, 16 Oct 2020; Athlete, 09 Sep 2019)

"Don't practise until it's perfect, practise so you can never get it wrong." (Athlete, 12 Jul 2015)

She was named Para Swimmer of the Year at the 2018 Swim Ireland Annual Awards. (swimswam.com, 26 Nov 2018)

At age 13 years and 154 days she became the youngest Irish athlete to compete at a Paralympic Games when she took part in the 2008 Games in Beijing. (paralympics.ie, 04 Jul 2018)

Her partner Gavin Maguire has represented Ireland in table tennis. He competed at the world championships in 2012, 2014 and 2016, and played professionally with the HSV Medizin Magdeburg club in Germany between 2012 and 2017. He also served as coach for Para table tennis player Colin Judge at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. (SportsDeskOnline, 10 May 2022; Gavin McGuire LinkedIn profile, 03 May 2022; Instagram profile, 14 Feb 2022; Gavin McGuire Instagram profile, 21 Aug 2021)

She was born without her left arm below the elbow. (Ireland Team Guide, 2018)

TRAINING TIME
She hopes the gold medal she won in the SB8 100m breaststroke at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo will give her better access to training facilities. "We [Para swimmers] were given access to the pool once a day whereas the Olympians were given access to the pool twice a day. I have had difficulty getting access to the pool at times whereas the Olympians have complete access whenever they need it. I kind of hope now, with this gold medal, it gives me a bit more respect. There have been times when I go training, my lane has been given to lessons. It's just so frustrating and thankfully I don't have to deal with it too much because my coach [Dave Malone] fights my corner a lot of the time. I just hope the amount of support we've had throughout the Games will continue." (the42.ie, 15 Sep 2021)

YOUNG PARALYMPIC DEBUT
She says that when she made her Paralympic debut at age 13 at the 2008 Games in Beijing, she did not completely understand the magnitude of the occasion until she raced against one of her idols, South African swimmer Natalie du Toit. "I didn't fully appreciate it at the time, how bizarre it was being that young at a Paralympic Games because no one treated me any differently. The only time I remember being kind of a bit afraid and overwhelmed was at my first or second race. I was in the same heat as Natalie du Toit, my idol. She had just competed in the Beijing Olympics as well as the Paralympics and she was twice the size of me, and here's me, the little tiny yolk. That's the only time I remember feeling my age. Things that just don't affect you as much when you're young because you're just kind of living in the moment and you don't worry about things and I think that's something that I wish I still had." (paralympic.org, 16 Oct 2020)

IMPACT OF SPORT
She says that swimming was important in helping her overcome insecurities about her impairment. "People might be insecure about their hair colour or their weight or things they think they can work on whereas I can never change that I have got one arm. I did shy away from it, I hid my arm, I became really insecure and it was a really hard time in my life. It was only really because of sport that I realised I'm actually capable of being happy in my body. Why can't I be happy in my body outside of the pool? That's where it took a bit of courage to choose to embrace my arm. I used to hide my arm in sleeves and it took till I was in college and until I was 19 to be like, 'I'm not going to wear my coat today and pretend that it's a completely normal thing for me to do'. But when I did that, I realised that the whole world didn't revolve around me and my arm and people really don't care that much. So when I did that, I got the confidence to do it every day and then it just became my norm." (punditarena.com, 18 Sep 2020)

TV APPEARANCE
She competed in the Irish version of the television show 'Dancing with the Stars' in 2022, reaching the final and finishing third with professional partner Stephen Vincent. (evoke.ie, 28 Apr 2022; dublinlive.ie, 14 Feb 2022)