Ellen Walshe on overcoming challenges to mind and body ahead of Paris

Walshe has surpassed two of Michelle Smith’s Irish records from the books in recent years but the Dubliner has been challenged in mind and in body, her story encapsulating the myriad ways in which an athlete has to face and overcome adversity.

PARIS BOUND: Ellen Walshe during a Team Ireland Paris 2024 Aquatics team training session at the National Aquatic Centre on the Sport Ireland Campus in Dublin. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile

Ellen Walshe qualified for the Tokyo Olympics with just three weeks to spare in 2021.

She was only 19 at the time and the achievement caught everyone by surprise, not least the Templeogue swimmer herself.