‘I’m very proud of Brendan – its probably the first competition where I haven’t been with him’

WHEN Brendan Hyland first took to the water at age three and began learning to swim, it marked the starting point of his involvement in a sport that would go on to be an enduring passion and career.

The Knocklyon man comes from a family that’s heavily involved in sport, as his cousins are involved in boxing and his sister, Roisin, used to swim and is now a rock climber.

Brendan’s father, Paul, said it was his wife, Avril, who encouraged their son to pick up swimming, as it was her sport of choice and it quickly became Brendan’s favourite sport too.

“I suppose we’re a sporting family,” Paul told The Echo, “but swimming was never the sport – Brendan gets that from his mother.”

The 26-year-old joined Tallaght Swimming Club when he was seven and, while a teenager attending Templeogue College, he trained six days a week in Blanchardstown and harboured ambitions of being an Olympian.

Reflecting on Brendan’s intense training schedule, Paul said: “We were up at 4.30 every morning.

“We used to be heading out to Tallaght to drop Roisin off and then we’d bring Brendan to be in Blanchardstown by five.

“At that stage he was training for 26 hours a week while going to school, and Sunday was his only day off.”

After securing high points in his Leaving Cert, Brendan went on to study accounting and finance in DCU. He was heavily involved in the college’s swim team and trained daily throughout his studies.

The hard work and sacrifice that Brendan and his family put in paid off when he qualified for the Olympics.

He’s now in Tokyo preparing to compete in the Individual 200m Butterfly on Monday, and the following day he will compete with the Ireland Men’s 4x200m Freestyle team.

When asked how he feels about his son competing in the Olympics, Paul said: “I think I’m getting overwhelmed – I think it only really hit me three days ago!

“I’m very proud of Brendan, but it will be strange – it’s probably the first competition where I haven’t been with him and it’s the biggest one.”

Paul is a vocal supporter of Brendan at swimming competitions and enthusiastically cheers him on.

While he won’t be there in Tokyo, he’ll still be supporting his son and cheering him on from his Knocklyon home.

“I get very into it, and I get very upset if it goes wrong,” he said. “I don’t hide my emotion. Whereas my wife would be the type to hide behind the couch when Brendan’s competing.

“Every competition that he swims in, there’s always a moment, just as he puts his foot up on the block, where everyone goes quiet.

“I always call his name out then, to let him know that I’m there. Sometimes he doesn’t look up, but sometimes he does.”

When he’s watching from home, Paul plans to continue that tradition and call out Brendan’s name as he’s preparing to step up to the block – to reaffirm that he has the backing of his family, even if they can’t physically be there.