Ellen Keane: ‘I’m Retiring From Sport, Not From High Performance’

Pic: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

Irish Paralympic swimmer Ellen Keane recently competed in her fifth and final Paralympic games in Paris – and we couldn’t be more proud of her.

Over the years, the 29-year-old swimmer has accumulated one gold Paralympic medal and several silver and bronze models at World Championships. Ellen was Ireland’s youngest-ever athlete when she competed in the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing at thirteen.

She tells STELLAR: “The overall experience [this year] wasn’t hard at all. The most challenging part was dealing with the pressure of the 100-metre breaststroke.

“Despite how you feel, it’s about showing up. The swim team is very good with supporting each other”.

 

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This year, Keane placed sixth at the Paralympics. However, the athlete was more grateful to be able to know and appreciate when her final swim was.

Ellen has been very vocal about retiring after the Paris Paralympics. “It was quite an easy decision to make,” she tell us. “I’m chasing my dreams, rather than settling for trying to make a living”.

This will be a huge lifestyle change as high-performance training has been the centre of Ellen’s everyday life since she was just 10 years old. However, she says that she is “retiring from sport, not from high performance ”.

There is a lot of support for athletes who want to transition from being a Paralympian to retiring. They can avail of strength and conditioning, the gym, and nutritional advice for several months after they finish up.

Pic: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

Ellen says that she plans to continue to use her skills from the last sixteen years of swimming in everyday life and her future career.

“I don’t fully know what’s next but I’m going to take the time to figure that out. I want to live a life where I’m accomplishing goals, that’s how I have grown up”.

And after releasing her autobiography Perfectly Imperfect in December of last year, and competing on Dancing with the Stars in 2022, we are sure Ellen will continue to do amazing things!

Allianz have been proud to support Ellen on her Paralympic journey since 2017 and are the only Irish brand to support the Olympics and Paralympics at both a global and local level. 

Words by Ava Grace

• Ellen Keane