I swam for Ireland at the Olympics, now I've thrown myself into a completely different pool sport
HER wrist bears the sign that she is an Olympian. The mental scars are elsewhere.
Given Erin Riordan did not have the best Olympics experience, returning to the place where she spent most of her time trying to qualify and prepare for the Games might seem an odd choice.
Advertisement
3
Riordan represented Team Ireland in the women's 4 x 100m freestyle relay at the Paris Games
Credit: Sportsfile
3
She's now turned to a totally different sport
3
She hasn't found the transition to water polo too tough
Credit: Inpho
But, so far, it is working for the former swimmer turned water polo player, who helped St Vincent's win the Irish Senior Cup this month.
The daughter of Irish parents, Riordan was born in Japan and has lived in Switzerland, Hong Kong and the UK.
College brought her back to the ancestral home as swimming kept her there.
Tokyo was targeted and missed. So, too, it seemed, had Paris, when the 4x100m freestyle relay team of which she was a member of came 17th in the World Championships.
Advertisement
Read More On Irish Sport
Riordan quit but returned when they were bumped up the list because Japan had not met their own national qualifying criteria.
It was a far from ideal build-up to competition.
She reflected: 'The few months leading up to Paris were probably the most emotionally strained I've been in my life.
"Along the way you kind of forget why you're doing it and it becomes, 'I want to make the Games, I want to do this', as opposed to I used to love the sport and I loved getting up at 5am.'
Advertisement
Most read in Other Sports
On the qualification reprieve, she said: 'I think that I had already grieved the loss.
'I had decided, 'OK it's not happening for me, I'm not going to the Olympics'.
Wild scenes in Naples as fans celebrate after Scott McTominay wins Serie A for Napoli
'And then two weeks later it was, 'Get back to Dublin, you might be going'. It was a big toll on the mind more so than the body.
'It's not a few months of prep, it's years and years of prep. We tried to get to Tokyo and didn't get it.
Advertisement
'I said, 'I'm sticking it out, I'm doing it again', trying to get to Paris.
"That was all taken away in one moment and then all given back in one moment, peaks and troughs, and a rollercoaster.'
Ireland finished exactly where their qualification ranking suggested they would — in 16th.
But the overall experience did not exactly live up to the hype.
Advertisement
Riordan, 25, said: 'You build it up in your head a little bit and then you get there and you're like, 'Oh my goodness the food is not nice, the hotel is not nice'.
'You walk out and you're like, 'This is it, this is the moment'. And then you're also like, 'Oh this is it?' Two edges of a sword I guess.
'I got Covid when I was over there. I was not well when I raced.
'I tested negative before I raced and tested positive after I raced so I got sent home immediately.'
Advertisement
NEXT CHAPTER
She got the five-rings tattoo soon afterwards and it was not long before she took up a new sport.
She said: 'That was something we worked on with the sport psychologist — a plan for after Paris.
'We knew it was going to be my last race, she advised me, 'The Olympic blues, you have to be careful. You're so used to getting all these endorphins from doing sport so if you stop, that's all going to drain out of you plus you've just completed the goal of your life'.
'So she was like, 'You need to have a plan'. The two sports I was looking at were triathlons or water polo but triathlons don't seem that fun.
Advertisement
'So I decided to go into water polo which was a weird transition because I'd never done any ball sports, I'd never done team sports.
'It was a bit humbling at the beginning, going from the Olympics to being the very worst on a team that has 14-year-old girls on it but good fun all the same.'
St Vincent's are based out of the National Aquatic Centre which meant returning to a venue where she put in the hard yards in pursuit of a dream that did not quite live up to expectations.
She said: 'It's fine now but the first time I was walking in I was like, shudders, post-traumatic stress disorder from all the training.
Advertisement
'I didn't even want to do the swim sessions with the water polo team. I managed to force myself to do it.
'It's good now, I guess. It's kind of like home even though I didn't want to be there for a while. I get a home feeling from it.'
DIFFERENT OUTLOOK
That may in part be down to bumping into former team-mates.
She said: 'Yeah every now and then and I'd still keep in touch with them. It's funny seeing them do their 6km sessions, enjoy!'
Advertisement
Training twice a week nicely dovetails with her full-time job with pharmaceutical firm Grifols, although she is also training for the Lisbon marathon in October.
She said: 'Before I used to work my life around my sport, whereas now I'm working sport around my life. It's a different dynamic for me.
'I started off not being able to catch the ball. There's a lot of skills you get from doing a lot of sports that are really transferable so I've picked it up a lot quicker than most people would pick it up.
'It's different, even learning tactics and stuff.
Advertisement
'I've never really done anything like that, it was just, 'Swim in a straight line and hope for the best'.
'I ended up getting called up for the Irish Senior Cup team. I had more of a minor role.
'I got a bit of game time but we ended up winning which was great. In the next few seasons I'm going to keep going, see where we go.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The 42
2 hours ago
- The 42
Senegal a novel but tough test for Ireland as long road to World Cup qualifiers finally comes to end
THE FAI'S SOCIAL channels reheated a favoured dish yesterday, posting the clip of Robbie Keane's 'bail that out u fuckers' equaliser against Germany at the 2002 World Cup, on what was its 23rd (!) anniversary. For those of us too young to remember The Charlton Years, this remains our Peak Irish sporting moment, at a time the generation older than us reckoned we had finally cracked the whole qualifying lark. Alas, Ireland at the Fifa World Cup became another empty Celtic Tiger promise. Almost a quarter-century on, we remain languishing on football's ghost estates, as most of the rest of their world got to live the high life. Heimir Hallgrimsson has been brought in to give us some upward mobility, and these next few days mark the end of his speculating. It's almost time to discover his yield. After tonight's clash with Senegal and Tuesday's friendly against our Old Pals Luxembourg, Ireland will finally begin World Cup qualifying, and the defining three months of Hallgrimsson's tenure. Hallgrimsson's focus remains utterly on the prize. 'I wouldn't mind losing both these games if we won both games in September if you are thinking about it that way', he said at his pre-match press conference. Tonight's opponents made their name at that same World Cup in 2002, beating holders France on the opening day and going all the way to the quarter-finals. Unlike Ireland, though, Senegal have actually gone on to do something since. Then-captain, Aliou Cissé, took over as manager in 2015 and gloriously led them to their first Afcon title along with the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, which were ruined by bad luck. First they became the first side ever eliminated from the groups on the last-resort, fair play tiebreaker, and four years later they got through the group only to run into England while depleted of Sadio Mane and Idrissa Gueye. But they have also had a penchant for off-field turbulence. Despite the fact the Senegal federation offered Cissé a new contract to take him through to the 2026 World Cup, the government – who actually pay Cissé's wages – decided he was no longer up to scratch, and told him they wouldn't be paying for that salary extension, given he had failed to make the World Cup quarter-finals nor win a second-straight Afcon title. And so against the wishes of both Cissé and the federation, he stepped aside and has been replaced by a former assistant and another alumnus of the '02 World Cup, Pape Thiaw. Senegal are in Dublin tonight partly because they were due to be close by, as they play England in a friendly in Nottingham next Tuesday. They are here without Sadio Mane, who has asked to be excused, but are otherwise at full strength. Advertisement Their squad is a blend of recognisable veterans – Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly, Idrissa Gueye – along with more youthful talent, including Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson, Tottenham's Pape Sarr, and Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara. Crystal Palace winger Ismalia Sarr is among too few talents at their peak and bridging both generations. If you exclude a penalty shootout loss to Ivory Coast at the most recent Afcon, Senegal are unbeaten in 20 games and have lost just once since that England defeat in Qatar. Ranked second in Africa and 19th in the world, they are a daunting opponent for Ireland. 'To go 20 games unbeaten is amazing', enthused Hallgrimsson at his pre-game media duties, explaining how direct Senegal are in seeking runners in behind and picking out third-man runs from deep, which offers a different test from the more patient heavyweights of European football. Thus if Senegal are not going to give Ireland a rehearsal for the Portugal and Hungary tests in terms of style, they will at least force Ireland to be attuned to those sides' tempo. 'Everything happens a little bit quicker, when we need to defend and that's a good step, if we are ready for that it's a good preparation for Hungary and Portugal', says Hallgrimsson. His message in training this week has been to preach the importance of remaining compact in the face of Senegal's threat. Compact neatly describes how Ireland played during the first half of their tie away to England last November – they got to the break at 0-0 before everything fell apart – though a reprise of playing Nathan Collins in midfield seems unlikely tonight, if only for the fact it's a home game against a standard of opponent against whom Ireland must score come the qualifiers. Hallgrimsson has left most of his Championship players on the beach for this window, though Bristol City duo Jason Knight and Max O'Leary have been included, along with Robbie Brady. That Brady is here emphasises how important he has become to Hallgrimsson, with depth at left-back at a minimum. The Irish manager is concerned about the lack of options in that position, as Callum O'Dowda is injury-prone and now a League One player, while he sees Ryan Manning as an attacking player. Hence why Hallgrimsson has spoken about the possibility of another return for James McClean to the fold, with McClean certainly open to another act with Ireland. McClean isn't here this week, however, and so this is a big opportunity for Josh Honohan to show his capabilities. Of the four new call-ups, Honohan has the least competition for a place in the team, though Hallgrimsson was coy on whether any of the quartet would be involved. 'The purpose of having a look at them is to see if they are ready to play. Whether it will be tomorrow or against Luxembourg or not at all, we will wait and see.' Hallgrimsson was cool on the prospect of midfielder John Patrick Finn making a senior debut this week, responding to a follow-up question by saying he 'has to grow a little bit more as a player to be starting for Ireland.' John Patrick Finn. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO Next Tuesday's game against Luxembourg is the likelier game for debuts and experimentation. Caoimhín Kelleher has established himself as Ireland's number one and regular football with his new club Brentford means he intends to hold onto that status. Matt Doherty is the only specialist right-back in the squad, but all of Jake O'Brien, Dara O'Shea, and Andrew Omobamidele have shown themselves comfortable at shuffling across to fill the role. Liam Scales will provide further competition for the right to play alongside Nathan Collins. Given Brady and Knight have been selected, meanwhile, they will surely start. Ahead of Finn and fellow freshman Killian Phillips in the midfield pecking order are Will Smallbone and Jack Taylor. Smallbone hasn't played for Ireland since last September owing to a rotten run with injury, while Taylor hasn't been afforded many opportunities to build off his impressive cameo away to Greece last October. Both could start if Hallgrimsson opts to play a single striker, with Taylor deep alongside Knight and Smallbone playing higher in a position similar to that in which Finn Azaz excelled in March. Festy Ebosele has returned from injury and can punch through any defence with his pace down the right flank, while Manning may play again off the left having put in his best performance for Ireland away to Bulgaria in March. Troy Parrott missed Wednesday's session through illness but trained yesterday, doing media consumers across the country a favour in not having to read too many Sick as a Parrott headlines today. He is definitely ahead of Adam Idah in the pecking order: the question is whether Hallgrimsson chooses to pick Evan Ferguson alongside Parrott, and at the expense of an attacking midfield player. In the home leg against Bulgaria in March, Parrott led the line with Ferguson tucked in behind. There are more than 36,000 tickets sold for tonight's game, an admirable number for a summer friendly against a side with whom we don't exactly have a keen rivalry. It's proof once again hat the country is desperate to be carried away by its football team. Tonight, finally, is the end of Hallgrimsson's long beginning. Success will be if the end does not rush up to meet us too quickly. Ireland (Possible XI): Kelleher; Doherty; Collins, O'Shea, Brady; Ebosele, Taylor, Knight, Manning; Smallbone, Parrott On TV: RTE Two; KO: 7.45pm
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Indiana Pacers stun Oklahoma City Thunder in last second of NBA Finals Game 1
There was never a doubt in Tyrese Haliburton's mind. The Indiana Pacers star has done it too often -- especially in the 2025 playoffs -- to not have confidence in the closing seconds. Haliburton hit a 21-foot pull-up jumper in the final second on Thursday (Friday Irish time) as the Pacers completed a stunning comeback for a 111-110 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. It was Haliburton's fourth big-time shot in the closing seconds during this year's playoffs. The Pacers hadn't led in the Thursday game until Halliburton drained his latest clutch hoop with 0.3 seconds remaining. "Ultimate confidence in himself," Indiana's Myles Turner said of Haliburton. "Some players will say they have it, but there are other players that show it. ... He wants to be the one to hit that shot. He doesn't shy away from that moment." In Game 5 of the first round of the playoffs, Haliburton cut through the lane to hit a driving layup with 1.3 seconds left in overtime, giving the Pacers a win and ending the series against the Milwaukee Bucks. In Game 2 of the second round, he hit a step-back 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds remaining to put Indiana up one and put the Cleveland Cavaliers into a 2-0 hole. Then in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, Haliburton hit another step-back shot that appeared to be the game-winner initially but was changed to a two that forced overtime against the New York Knicks. Indiana eventually won. The Thursday shot merely continued the pattern. Indiana trailed by as many as 15 points in the fourth quarter, and though the Pacers cut the deficit to one in the closing seconds, the Thunder had the ball in the Most Valuable Player's hands with a chance to put the Pacers away. However, Andrew Nembhard guarded MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tenaciously, helping force a missed fadeaway that opened the door for Haliburton's heroics. With 11 seconds left, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle trusted his team and didn't take a timeout. Haliburton worked his way down the court against Oklahoma City's Cason Wallace, driving just inside the 3-point arc before pulling up for a shot that briefly rattled around the rim before dropping through. "I had a pretty good idea," Haliburton said when asked whether he knew the shot was good. Indiana won despite turning the ball over 25 times -- 20 times in the first half alone. "It's not the recipe to win," Haliburton said. "We can't turn the ball over that much ... (but) come May and June, it doesn't matter how you get 'em, just get 'em." The best-of-seven series resumes with Game 2 on Sunday in Oklahoma City. "The series isn't first to one, it's first to four," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "So we have four more games to get. They have three, and that's just where we are." Game 1 was a gut punch for the Thunder, who led from the start and got 38 points from Gilgeous-Alexander. Oklahoma City managed just 11 points off the Pacers' giveaways, including just nine off Indiana's 20 first-half turnovers. The Pacers trailed by 15 early in the fourth quarter before chipping away at the deficit. Nembhard and Myles Turner each scored eight points in the period. Indiana cut the deficit to one with 48.6 seconds remaining on Pascal Siakam's putback following a missed 3-point attempt by Nembhard. Siakam led the Pacers with 19 points and added 10 rebounds. Obi Toppin had 17 points off the bench, Turner scored 15 and Nembhard had 14. Haliburton finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. For Oklahoma City, Jalen Williams contributed 17 points on 6-of-19 shooting while Chet Holmgren was just 2 of 9 for six points. The Thunder led 94-79 with 9:42 remaining, but Indiana wasn't about to go away. The Pacers ripped off a 15-4 run to stay within striking distance, and then they surged ahead late. Oklahoma City hit just one field goal in the final four minutes, giving the Pacers the opening to come back. "We played like we were trying to keep the lead instead of trying to extend it or be aggressive," Williams said.
The Irish Sun
3 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Josh Kelly played against Jordan Pickford but now eyes title fight against ‘freak' champ who's as tall as Anthony Joshua
JOSH KELLY once played alongside Jordan Pickford - now he is targeting world title fights against champions taller than the goalkeeper. Advertisement 3 Josh Kelly used to play for Sunderland's academy Credit: Instagram @joshkelly07 3 Jordan Pickford once played with Kelly at Sunderland Credit: Getty Images - Getty But the Black Cats fan admits it was probably for the best having excelled in the ring after giving football the KO. He told "I remember playing in one training game and Pickford was in goal! I did well. "I think I could have done OK in football but when I was making weight for boxing I didn't really mature as quickly as the other guys, and I made the decision to focus on my boxing. Advertisement "I was trying to run both next to each other. I played for Hartlepool a little bit. But it's hard to focus on both. "I remember coming off one day and talking to my dad, a lot of the lads were a lot more mature than me, I was weight draining myself for the boxing and trying to diet and I knew I had to do this or that. "When I started boxing for England and going places, that was the natural step." Kelly was a decorated amateur, representing Great Britain at World and European level. Advertisement Most read in Boxing CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS He went onto qualify for the 2016 Olympics but was eliminated in the second round by Daniyar Yeleussinov of Kazakhstan. Kelly then turned professional in 2017 and looked to be one of the most promising talents in world boxing, with flashy speed and eye-catching combinations. Josh Kelly vows to KO Conor Benn and slams Chris Eubank Jr in double call out But after drawing to unknown American Ray Robinson in 2019 and Advertisement He built his way back up slowly, moving up from welterweight to light-middleweight, where he won the British title. But Kelly is eyeing the 154lb big dogs - quite literally - with his eyes on He told Despite weighing the 11 stone limit, Fundora stands the same height as 18 stone heavyweight Anthony Joshua. Advertisement He beat Tim Tszyu for the WBO title and the vacant WBC belt. Benn, 28, moved up from welterweight for the fight but was beaten by Eubank, 35, after 12 thrilling rounds. Kelly returns on Friday in Newcastle against 24-1 Romanian Flavius Biea. Advertisement Read more on the Irish Sun But he said on his future plans: 'Well, Benn or Eubank or someone like that would be cool. 'So, just big fights – just ones that will get people talking, ones that will get people excited, ones where you get excited.' 3 Sebastian Fundora is 6ft 6in tall Credit: Getty
