Just a couple more lengths, just a few more days, Ellen Keane can see the end now. How those last few metres in the water play out is yet to be determined, but her competitive swimming career will conclude at the Paralympic Games in Paris.
Keane is about to compete in her fifth and final Paralympics. The Clontarf swimmer was just 13 when she appeared in the 2008 Games in Beijing, a kid thrown in at the deep end and asked to hold her own in a pool full of adults.
All of 16 years on, Keane enters this week’s Games as a two-time medallist. She didn’t get on the podium in London 2012, but Keane medalled at the last two Games – claiming bronze in the SB8 100-metre breaststroke in Rio 2016 before her crowning moment when landing gold in the same event in Tokyo.
In the years since, Keane has transcended her sport – emerging as a household name in popular culture after appearing on Dancing with the Stars, acting as joint Grand Marshal alongside Kellie Harrington for the 2022 Dublin St Patrick’s Day parade and even having her image feature on a special series of An Post stamps.
But Paris has radiated like a fitting terminus from a long way out. With Covid delaying the Tokyo Games until 2021, there was a three-year programme towards Paris rather than another four-year build-up. It might only be 12 months, but that was a far more attractive window for Keane to keep ajar.
She’s 29 now, certainly not old, but for a career that has been operating at an elite level since she was only beginning secondary school, she’s content the time is right for her to put the goggles away.
In the team announcement before the athletes made their way to Paris, Keane was at ease with the pathway ahead. There will be no going back.
“No, I am very set in my decision,” she said. “It’s making sure I don’t drop off, and making sure I am staying present. I do have a different role in the team and that’s what keeps me focused.
“I’d say physically my body could probably keep going, but five Games is a lot for anyone, mentally. I wouldn’t want to go to LA and just be there for the sake of it. I want to still be able to put in a good performance and that’s what I’m trying to do with Paris.
“It’s probably harder than I thought it would be. Mentally, it is a lot harder. When I go away competing, or when I go away on camps, I never used to get homesick, and now I do.
“That’s probably the hardest thing for me because I’m like, ‘I want to go home to my dogs’. The harder thing for me as well is I’ve seen so many people come and go, my friends from different countries, there’s not as many of them. You feel like my generation is kind of ready to move on.”
But she is not moving on quietly. At the European Games in Madeira in April, Keane claimed silver in the SB8 100-metre breaststroke final.
She will defend her Paralympic gold medal on the second day of these Paris Games, with the SB8 100-metre breaststroke scheduled for Friday.
However, that will not be her final swim. Keane was determined to qualify for a second event for the Paris Games and achieved the qualifying time to race in the S9 100-metre backstroke, which takes place on Tuesday, September 3rd.
“I didn’t want to go to the Games, race on day two and then be done. The emotions that come with that as well, I didn’t want to be sitting in the call room in the final knowing, ‘Okay, well, this is my last swim’.
“The Games itself is so long, it’s 10 days, my team-mates will be competing the whole way through and I didn’t want to just be hanging around and being in everyone’s way. I’m still part of the team now, I’m still going to be competing.”
Keane, who was born without part of her left arm below the elbow, is among Ireland’s six-strong swim team at these Games – alongside Dearbhaile Brady (17), Barry McClements (22), Róisín Ní Ríain (19), Deaten Registe (20), and Nicole Turner (21).
The likes of Ní Ríain and Brady might yet become the future of Irish Para swimming but Keane was the trailblazer.
“I feel really proud to be able to go to the Paralympics as part of a team that is so strong,” added Keane. “And to see it out in a good position as well is motivating.”
Ellen Keane’s final chance to make a Paralympic splash for Ireland awaits, just a couple more lengths now, just a few more days.
