Róisín Ní Riain calls for more coverage of Para athletes
Michael Bolton
At just 21 years old, Róisín Ní Riain has achieved what many para athletes could only dream of in the swimming pool.
Ní Riain won a silver and bronze medal for the S13 100m backstroke and 200m individual medley in the Paris Paralympics, which was followed by five medals at last year's world championships.
Having made her Paralympic debut in Tokyo at just 16, the Limerick woman already has a lot of experience at such a young age.
In 2023, she also won gold and silver at the World Para Swimming Championships in Manchester.
Ní Riain was born with coloboma, an area of missing tissue in the eye, which reduces her visual acuity and periphery.
Growing up, she admitted she did not think people who are visually impaired like her could go on to achieve such success.
Speaking to BreakingNews.ie, she hopes the next generation can take inspiration from her success.
"It is important to increase the visibility of para sport", says Ni Riain.
"For young kids, it is important to see people out there who are like them. For me, I didn't know any visually impaired people growing up.
"It was only when I got to the para swimming circuit that I got to know people like me.
"The visibility and the opportunity for people to get to meet people with a disability will help grow it more."
After the heroics in Paris, the Limerick woman did not slow down in 2025, winning five medals at the World Para Championships.
Winning medals in the 100m backstroke, 200m individual medley, 100m breaststroke and 400m freestyle, the one she took huge satisfaction from was the 100m butterfly medal.
"I came fourth in Paris, by a small margin, but not too small.
"I knew if I wanted to get on the podium, I would really have to put the work in. For me, that event was really day one of the competition. It was an event to get in and brush the cobwebs off.
"A low-pressure event, which usually meant I was able to perform quite well with no expectations.
"For me, I had never really trained for the event before; it just meant it was the event I put the most focus into for the year.
"I took a big chunk of time off that event, with 1.6 seconds. To be able to see the progress and the work I put in and to be able to get the results at the end of it, that is what made it my favourite event.
"As athletes, we put in the work, and you don't see it for so long, and then eventually it clicks."
At such a young age, Ní Riain has quickly become a superstar.
With the 2028 LA Olympics just over two years away, the Limerick swimmer will likely go into the Olympics with more medals around her neck, following the world championships in June.
As more excitement builds around her, Ní Riain is able to take it all in her stride.
"I am probably quite a practical thinker.
"I know what I want to achieve and I know what I want to achieve to do that. It is breaking that down into knowing what I have to do week to week and month to month.
"It is just constantly that. I have done well but want to do better. It is that mindset of knowing I am capable of more and want to achieve that."
