There was a noticeable excitement rippling through the school a fortnight ago as Tuesday the 31st of January dawned.

Children headed towards their classrooms, clad not in their usual navy jumpers and trousers but rather in every shade of green imaginable. The reason? Later in the day, we would be visited by Irish Olympian and Tokyo 2020 (2021 really!) medallist, Aifric Keogh.

We had been lucky enough to secure a slot with Aifric through the Dare to Believe programme which is an initiative run by Team Ireland to inspire the next generation of Irish athletes, who are currently sitting in classrooms all over the country.

After a quick Zoom practice in the morning, were ready for Aifric’s call at 2pm sharp. Active Schools Committee members Allie Lacey and Jack O’Connor greeted Aifric before she told us about her journey from rowing novice to Olympic medallist. We then had an opportunity for Q & A.

We’ll now hand you over to the 4^th and 5^th class students as they tell us a little bit about what they learned from Aifric’s call with us!

• That she said that the medal is about the weight of a bag of sugar - Danny
• That life is a rollercoaster and there are ups and downs and you need to remember to keep going - Lleyton How she kept going to practice even when times were tough so much so that she got into the Olympics – Robbie
• Aifric was 11 when she started rowing - Evanne
• When Aifric Keogh showed us the picture of the rollercoaster, I was interested because there’s lots of ups and downs and all arounds – Madisyn
• Life can be tough but never give up - Christopher
• You will have good days and bad day but always keep going – Ellie
• She quit a lot of times and then came back- Mary
• Life is like rollercoaster there are ups and downs but you have to keep going no matter what - Hollie
• There are lots of ups and downs but just keep riding the rollercoaster – Charlotte
• That life is a rollercoaster and you always just have to ride it out, both ups and downs – Emma
• Aifric started rowing at the age of eleven – John
• She has won a silver medal in the European Championships which was her first ever medal – Eva
• She would join as much clubs so she could start to make friends as she has joined secondary school – Babette
• She didn’t think she was going to row when she was young. She had not even heard about rowing - Elliot
• She started to row when she was 12 and at first she didn’t know about rowing and that she kept going even with injuries and through covid and kept going when she didn’t make the Olympics in 2016 but got bronze in 2021 - Cathal Nolan
• How she had lots of ups and downs in her career but never gave up what she loved to do. She learned from her mistakes and pushed even harder for her goals and with that she got to where she wants to be – Nina
• Aifric Keogh said a lot of good phrases. My favourite would be there are good and bad days in life for everybody. If you fail, try again. Never give up on your dreams - Aaron Nolan.
• Aifric Keogh said she tried to get to the Olympics Rio 2016 but she didn’t make and she said life is like a roller coaster and you have to live through it - James Carroll
• Aifric thought that canoeing was rowing and lots of her friends quit rowing - Aaron Hiney-Doyle
• Life is a roller coaster because with the downs there is always an up but whatever you do don’t get off because greet things can happen - Kian Hutton
• She had her ups and downs but she kept going and for every bad thing that happens 1m good things happen so never give up - Paddy Connors
• When Aifric was younger she didn’t know what rowing was but when she got older all her friends quit and she was rowing in a boat on her own - Oisín
• That she to quit but kept pushing on and that got her a bronze medal in the Olympics - Ava
• Aifric Keogh took part in a rowing club in her school when she was younger - Jane

Check out some pictures of the visit below!