Olympics 24: ‘From the start, she was like a little mermaid’ – Ellen’s coach Brian

“From the start, she was like a little mermaid.”

This is how Tempelogue Olympic swimming star Ellen Walshe is described by her coach and mentor Brian Sweeney.

Brian has seen Ellen progress through the ranks of international swimming from her first tentative splashes in the Tempelogue pool, through the age groups, all the way to representing Ireland at the Tokyo Olympics.

Brian is a man who’s put his heart and soul into the sport of swimming for his entire life and whilst he’s extremely proud of Ellen’s achievements, he acknowledges the ethos that was instilled into the club by a notable predecessor.

“I swam as a junior under the guidance and stewardship of Dave McCulloch who was an absolute legend of Irish swimming and a man who taught me so much,” says Brian.

“Tragically he died in 2002 at the age of 41, but his focus on education for the coaches and swimmers has always stayed with me.”

In 2009, having turned down the job in favour of the successful career in recruitment he already had, Brian agreed to take up the position Dave had held and became full-time head coach of Tempelogue Swimming club.

Not long after, Brian first came across a young girl named Ellen Walshe who, during a sponsored swim, insisted on doing twenty lengths of the pool using the gruelling butterfly stroke.

“She had a bit of a stubborn streak even then, but it’s served her well over the years,” says Brian.

From there, quite literally, off to the races they went.

As Brian explains, “Ellen’s sisters Nicole, Hannah and Eva were all swimmers too and I remember the young Ellen coming along to meets with Hannah and really enjoying it.”

“It’s funny but I remember that Ellen would always be sitting on her own at these events, just watching. She’d be taking everything in and learning all the time.”

“When it came to the work ‘in the soup,’ I could see she had talent but we needed to develop the basics of technique with her. To her credit, she took on board all of the critiques, even if they were occasionally harsh. She always had the desire to improve.”

And improve she did, winning a succession of under-age titles before graduating to the senior ranks, and following a string of strong performances, proudly representing Ireland at the Tokyo 2020 games.

Eventually Ellen was offered many opportunities to join the American collegiate system. She chose the program at the University of Tennessee and swam at the NCAA championships in 2022 as a ‘Tennessee Volunteer.’

Not long after this, she overcame a debilitating bout of glandular fever and made the difficult decision to come back to Ireland and complete her studies with Tennessee remotely while continuing her swimming with Tempelogue.

I put it to Brian that the move back could have been seen as a backward step. He tells me, “I asked her about it and she flatly told me ‘This is my home,’ and that was that.”

As Ellen and Brian prepare for her second crack at the Olympics he tells me a bit about Ellen’s character and what makes her special.

He says, “She’s a great example to all of our young members. She’s just a humble, vivacious and charismatic young lady.”

“Of course, I’ve had a million arguments with her over the years but we always get over them pretty quickly. I can tell you that there won’t be a prouder coach in Paris when I see her dive in for her first race.”

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