DEARBHAILE BRADY WATCHED her hero, Nicole Turner, at the last Paralympic Games in Tokyo. Three years on, she’s set to compete with her in Paris.
The pair shared the S6 50m freestyle podium at the European Championships in April; Turner winning her maiden major championship gold medal while Brady took bronze — and her first-ever major medal — at the age of 16.
“It was amazing,” Brady smiles.
“Looking up to Nicole… it was a shock. I’m still shocked to this day.”
Turner echoes the sentiments.
“Ah, she was absolutely delighted! It was really nice sharing the podium with another Irish swimmer, which is very rare. It was lovely.”
It has been a whirlwind for Derry native Brady, who turned 17 and completed her GCSEs this summer.
She was scouted by Para Swimming Performance Director Dave Malone at the 2022 summer national championships, and has gone from strength to strength since.
“Back in 2020, back before Tokyo, I didn’t know there was such thing as the Paralympics,” she says.
“I didn’t know the Paralympics existed until I started knowing a bit more about Nicole. I watched her in Tokyo, that’s how we seen there was such a thing as the Paralympics. I thought for me it would have been the Olympics.”
She wasn’t aware of Ellen Keane, Róisín Ní Riain or anyone else until after the last Games, but her path had inadvertently crossed with Turner before. She had met her, and identified with another person of small stature.
“There was a thing called Little People of Ireland and I was seeing Nicole [at events] over the years. You meet up every year just for a bit of craic. But I never realised it was that Nicole until after Tokyo.
“There’s a photo of me and Nicole from a few years ago with a medal. It’s like, ‘That’s Nicole!’”
Brady and Turner will compete in their European-medal winning S6 50m freestyle on the opening day of the 2024 Paralympics on Thursday, and the S6 50m Butterfly next Tuesday.
The recent success has made Brady “more motivated,” and she’ll be hoping to make a splash at La Défense Arena.
But just being there is an achievement in itself.
“When I was growing up, my parents didn’t want me in the water because of the general fear, I couldn’t reach a lot of the pools,” the Limavidy Swimming Club star says.
She started swimming lessons in primary school aged nine and her family’s fears were allayed once they knew she could float with a pool noodle or a board, and that she was confident in the pool unsupervised.
Of course, they wanted her to be aware of water safety, but Brady was always at her happiest swimming.
“I always loved just being there, nearly knowing I could float or if I had something, I would be okay.”
Her younger brother and sister swim too, but Brady stresses that she’s the most competitive.
She even used her brother, Matthew, as a pacemaker for the 2023 World Championships.
“Back before Manchester, he had the butterfly time I needed. I always considered him a challenge. I knew if I became faster than him, I would have got the time for worlds.”
She succeeded.
Onto Paris. The whirlwind continues as an unforgettable 2024 hits new heights.
“It will all be worth it in the end, to look back in a few years time like, ‘I did that,’” Brady concludes.
