Brendan Hyland: ‘I’m too invested now to walk away without giving it a go’

For years, ever since Brendan Hyland could remember, the qualifying time for the 200m butterfly stood at 1:56.90. When he beat that time, it wasn't good enough to reach Tokyo

Brendan Hyland admits he has found life in lockdown hard. Picture: Inpho/Tommy Dickson

Everyone needed a minute when the Tokyo Games were shunted back 12 months but Brendan Hyland took longer than most to take it all in. For the Tallaght swimmer it was yet another case of the goalposts being moved as he chased his Olympic dream.

For years, ever since he could remember, the qualifying time for the 200m butterfly stood at 1:56.90. Lots of athletes fall for an Olympic tattoo when they are done. For Hyland, these were the digits emblazoned into his mind if the needle was to be an option. Cue the world championships in Gwangju, South Korea two years ago. On site as a member of the relay team, he was given permission to swim the individual event by the organisers and duly went out and made the final where he punched in with a time of 1:56.55 to finish eleventh.