‘Since I’ve gotten older I see the more serious side’ – Swimmer Nicole Turner embracing the pressure as Paris looms

There are less than 100 days to the Paris Paralympic Games, in what will be her third time to swim for Ireland. Her first came as a wide-eyed 14-year-old in Rio. She was just off her first long-haul flight, happy to be along for the ride, wondering what all the fuss was about.

“I was 14 in Rio, and Rio, it was a good Games, but there wasn’t a massive amount of money put into it. So I think in Rio, I didn’t see a Paralympics as being a big thing, as bad as that sounds,” she said.

“I went out and had a bit of fun. Everyone around me, the likes of Ellen Keane, she was 21 in Rio, the age I am now. She was getting nervous and I didn’t understand that. I was like, ‘Here, do you want a jelly?’. She probably just wanted to tell me to go away and leave her alone!”

​Tokyo was different, more serious, but with Covid restrictions, more eerie. When she won silver in the 50m butterfly, the product of years of work, there wasn’t much more than a high-five.

“Tokyo was when I started, not to feel the pressure but see the serious side of the sport,” said the PTSB ambassador.

“Coming out of Tokyo when I won my medal, it showed me the amount of people my swimming ... not affect ... but the impact swimming has on other people as well as myself.

“It was special to win a medal, but there was only my teammates and coaches to celebrate with. And even when I say celebrate, it was a simple high five of fist bump after a race, it wasn’t anything crazy.

“And when you win your medal, you literally go back, eat and then go to bed. There was no, not that we want a celebration, but there was no excitement to it because everyone had to do their own thing and it was so restricted.”

Since the Laois swimmer went to Rio, she has seen the supports for Paralympic athletes rocket. A sports scholar at TU Dublin, where she studies sport and business management, they have let her defer some modules to pursue her swimming. Corporate sponsors are also on board.

“It has erupted in the past few years and is going in the right direction. And it is nice. Tokyo, with people not being there, the likes of RTÉ for the Olympics and Paralympics made a massive effort. They were in my house filming my parents watching my race, so the coverage in the media, equally for the Olympics and Paralympics, has increased massively over the past few years.”

All that’s left are the final few touches, not least what her chosen events will be. She’ll race in the 50m butterfly on day one and the 50m freestyle on day six. There’s scope for another event in between.

“There is a 200m IM (Individual Medley) and 100m breaststroke between those. I probably won’t do the two, but it would be nice to have an event in between them, so I’m not lingering for five days in between.”

In some ways, Paris will be her first ‘true’ Paralympics experience. She’ll be old enough to appreciate it, and unlike Tokyo, it will come with all the bells and whistles associated with the Games. And she’s hoping there’ll be a gold medal at the end of it all.

“I think these Games will be special in a way. Friends and family will be there. And I won’t lie, I do feel pressure now. I always make a joke and say I wish I was my 14-year-old self now because when I was 14, I did not feel the pressure, did not feel nerves.

“Since I’ve got older, I’ve seen the more serious side. And not that other people are putting pressure on me, but I have a goal and expectation and want to exceed it. Pressure does come with that.”