Castlebar Olympian Nicholas Quinn comes home

MEETING AND GREETING Olympic swimmer Nicholas Quinn is greeted by fans as he arrives at Lough Lannagh Village in Castlebar for a Civic Reception last week. Pics: Keith Heneghan/Phocus

Interview
Ger Flanagan

THE margins in elite sport are very fine indeed. Honoured at a civic reception by Mayo County Council last week, Castlebar Olympian Nicholas Quinn knows that more than most.
Despite winning his heat in his speciality event, the 200 metres breaststroke at this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Quinn revealed that when he fixed his eyes on the clock, his first emotion he got was one of disappointment, rather than joy.
“I looked up at the board and saw my time and I knew I had won the heat but I said I would be very surprised if that was enough to get me in,” he told The Mayo News last week.
“I knew it would be close, but I was thinking ‘it’s probably not going to be good enough’.”
So close, in fact, that only .41 of a second was all that separated Quinn from the last man to qualify for the semi-finals. The Mayo man swam 2:11.67, just short of his personal best, leaving him in 19th place overall … and 16 swimmers qualified.
Although his initial feeling was disappointment, Quinn was quick to realise the heights of his magnificent achievement.
“I wanted to get a second swim because it was an amazing pool and the atmosphere was just unreal. I wanted to get in there and experience that one more time, but it wasn’t to be.
“I did everything I could in that race. My tactics and everything I executed were exactly the way I wanted, but it just wasn’t good enough on the day. But I am happy as to how I executed it. Everything that I could control, I felt I did.”
After arriving back to his home town of Castlebar and taking a few well-deserved days of rest, Quinn was in typically optimistic form as he tended to all the media obligations and photograph-hunters that had gathered at Lough Lannagh Village to welcome home Mayo’s latest Olympian. Recalling the experience, he said it exceeded all expectations.
“I had a perception as to what the whole Olympics would be like and I thought I was prepared for it, but you can’t prepare for that. You were in a whole different world and it was amazing, you were trying to make the most of every hour.
“It kind of feels like racing was so long ago, it’s almost a lifetime ago at this stage. But it was an amazing experience and something I will never forget.”
Controversy engulfed the Irish delegation during the Olympic Games, and many felt this was reflected in the low medal count for Irish athletes. But Quinn disagrees with the notion that only medals count as success.
“You can’t really get away from it [the controversy] but we knew nothing more than what was being said by the media and the press,” he says. “The atmosphere within Team Ireland was better than expected,. All the athletes really bonded together and there was such a positive atmosphere that we almost felt quite removed from it.
“I think all the athletes performed really well. I think we only got three medals, but it was really successful from the athlete’s point of view.”
What’s next for Nicholas Quinn? The 23-year-old is displaying no signs of slowing down any time soon. Tokyo 2020 is looming in the distance, but the psychology student revealed he will be in no rush to make a decision regarding his Olympic future.
“I have to go back to college in Edinburgh in a few weeks so it’s back down to the grind. I’ll take a few weeks out of the pool to refresh and then we’ll go again, get back in and start training.
“It’s a long road, four years, there is a lot of hard work to be done between now and then if I decide to go down that road … I won’t make any big decisions now in the weeks after the Olympics because you are on such a high … I’ll take the next year to take stock and reassess where I am and I’ll take it from there.”
And despite being on the opposite side of the world, this didn’t prevent Quinn from following his beloved Mayo in their quest for the All-Ireland title.
“I follow them all the time and hopefully in a few weeks time we will have a bigger reception for Sam coming home!” he concluded.