Nicole Turner: 'When I woke up I wondered was I in some crazy dream'
Ireland's Nicole Turner celebrates winning a silver medal
It’s only natural that our eyes are drawn towards Irish athletes standing on podiums in Tokyo this week but there has never been a race run or swam that didn’t displace a cornucopia of emotions and contrasting scenes.
Ellie Robinson was adamant that her fifth-place finish in the S6 50m butterfly yesterday was “a story of triumph, not a story of defeat”. Champion in that class five years ago, and a nine-time major medallist, the Englishwoman had beaten the odds simply to make the start.
When the race was done, she told Channel 4 about her battle with Perthes disease, a chronic condition in her right hip, that left her agony and looks like ending her career just as she celebrates her 20th birthday.
Standing next to her, giving her own interview even as Robinson poured her heart out on national television, was Ireland’s Nicole Turner. The pair dipped their toes into the international swimming circuit together back in 2015.
“She’s honestly one of my best friends, we get on like a house on fire,” said the Portarlington swimmer who claimed the silver medal behind Yuyan Jiang of China at the Tokyo Aquatic Centre yesterday.
“It was hard for me because after my race Channel 4 asked to interview me when Ellie was being interviewed beside me. She broke down in tears and I had to try my damned hardest not to go over and give her a hug while I was still in the interview. So it was hard.
“I know I said going into it that the aim was always to beat her. I’m glad that I beat her but I would have liked her to get a success and be happy as well so it was quite challenging to see that. Unfortunately, she is injured and that’s sport at the end of the day, I think.”
Turner has won medals at European and World levels before but she has suffered disappointment too. Though she made five finals at the last Games in Rio at the age of just 14, she finished just half a second away from bronze and returned home determined to become a “proper athlete”.
Four medals at the Euros earlier in the year stood as proof that she was arriving in Japan in the ideal shape and she took the starting line in yesterday’s final feeling no pressure, confident that the work had been done.
What followed was bliss. And bedlam.
“It was crazy. From the minute I finished my race I was with media for about 20 minutes before I even got back to my coaches and then I was let go back to get some food and whatever.
“For the first few hours everyone is coming up to you and congratulating you and wanting an interview but then it just suddenly it dies down and you’re back in your room. That was when it hit me that I actually did do it.
“We have these bedside lockers here and that’s where I kept my medal but even when I woke up this morning I was like, ‘was I in a crazy dream, did that really just happen?’”
This was her third event of the Games and, thankfully, her last. Sleep was only an occasional companion last night and she wonders now how she could possibly recalibrate her senses were there another race to come this week.
The next few days will be spent cheering on her teammates, some of whom have yet to race, before returning home to Portarlington and the inevitable chaos and cheer that will come with the homecoming.
And then?
“Well, I’m definitely going to keep swimming. We have a nice little break just to unwind and have some time with friends and family, but (the 2024 Games in) Paris is only three years away and I’m still only 19 so Paris is definitely on the horizon.
“Education-wise, I think I am going to do a PLC rather than go back to my Leaving Cert just because it would be less stressful and I can work swimming around both.
“I mean, we have a few weeks off and then we’re straight back into training because the Worlds Championships are in Madeira next June so it’s a very early season next year as well.”
All that left is the opportunity to clear up one, critical question. Portarlington sits on the border of Laois and Offaly and both counties have laid claim to her. Turner was born in Portlaoise General Hospital but…
“I’m not saying I’m Laois or Offaly. I’ve always said I’ve been a Laois woman simply because Laois is the bigger county and some would say it’s the better county for the football and hurling but I live right on the border.
“Technically, I live on the border but yeah I am an Offaly woman. If I say I’m not an Offaly woman everyone in Offaly will be killing me. Officially the address is Offaly.”
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