Patrick’s mum Siobhán: He’s put heart and soul into making it to Tokyo
SLIGO-born Paralympian Patrick Flanagan’s dedication, application and mental and physical tenacity are being rewarded as he waits patiently in Tokyo with Team Ireland for his time to shine.
A powerful 400m freestyle swimmer, he comes from a family rich in sporting heritage for whom representing Ireland has been a recurring theme. Patrick, who grew up in Longford, is changing the family narrative out in Rosses Point, where his father Kevin and his brother Seán, until recently, tended to be the first names that would spring to mind when anyone talked about sport – golf in particular – in an Irish context.
Kevin, a former captain of the Irish amateur team who competed across the globe, and Seán, who followed his father’s lead and also played for Ireland, winning many prestigious tournaments, among them the North of Ireland amateur trophy, have welcome company as Patrick takes his bow on one of the biggest sporting stages of all.
As fine as Kevin and Seán’s golfing credentials are, within the family there’s a new kid on the block who will represent Ireland at the Paralympic Games. Patrick is in the spotlight now and the family, a great number of whom live close to each other in the Rosses Point area, are all hugely proud of Patrick’s achievement, none more so than his mum, Siobhán, who says seeing her son become the man he is gives her the greatest thrill of all. Speaking to the Sligo Weekender this week, Siobhán said: “He has put his heart and soul into making it to Tokyo, he’s followed the training schedules which, at the elite level, are gruelling, he’s worked on his diet and so much more.
“It is a great achievement, but it is the whole experience of what he has done which matters most to me, it’s the approach he took, the effort he made, people may never know the sacrifices he made, for Patrick it’s no more than he deserves to be in Tokyo.
“It’s hard to explain, but for me it is more about the man he has become. I love that aspect of how he has evolved. For me the fact that he got there, he achieved his goal, made his target, that is very satisfying.
“The best part of the whole experience I think is the fact that he has earned the right to be in Tokyo, thanks to his incredible dedication and hard work. That’s a very special feeling and that’s the thing that fills me with huge pride,” Siobhán explains.
Patrick, the third of four children born to Siobhán and Kevin Flanagan, will compete in the Aquatic Centre in Tokyo circa 1am Irish time on September 2 and again around 1am on September 4 in the 400m freestyle and 100m backstroke respectively.
Having hit the qualification time for Tokyo in January 2020, there was no guarantee that this time would be enough to ensure he would get the call up for Tokyo as he had to earn the world ranking points to get invited. After a nervous time where the ‘did he get the call’ question was carefully avoided by family members, the good news finally came through in June of this year.
“He shared the good news with myself and Kevin first, that was a special moment,” Siobhán told the Sligo Weekender. After that the next person he talked to was his grandmother, Kevin’s mum, Alice.
“They are very close and he was keen to share the good news with her, she was delighted as were we all,” Siobhán said.
But as his mum she’s not hugely surprised that her son, despite having spina bifida, has made it. The condition resulted in Patrick having no motor function from below his knees and little function above his knees to his hips.
She has seen first hand through the years the sacrifices Patrick has made to make the Games. “It’s extraordinary in some respects, he never set out to achieve this, it just evolved and as the years went by it became apparent to all of us that he could qualify.” However, as far as Patrick was concerned the word “could qualify” never really entered the equation, in his mind he was going to make it.
Looking back at Patrick’s early introduction to swimming, Siobhán says she knew there would be benefits to it for Patrick in terms of wellbeing and fitness. A GP based in Longford, in a practice where her husband Kevin also works, Siobhán said that she encouraged Patrick to swim, and once he tried it he loved it and she can’t recall him ever not wanting to swim.
She said: “It was just about doing something that he would enjoy and that would be good for him, it was no more than that, but it soon became apparent that Patrick was particularly strong in the water and when he puts his focus on something, he will always do whatever he is doing to the very best of his ability, and this was the case with his swimming.”
Without the use of his lower limbs from birth, Siobhán agrees that the fact she and her husband Kevin were in the medical profession helped. They were determined he would live “a fully independent life”, adding: “We knew he couldn’t walk but it has never held him back and that has always been the case. His own attitude was critical, he has never, ever let it hold him back and he has travelled the world – he has been in more places than I have ever been.
“He never played the ‘poor me’ card. We encouraged him to be independent and from an early age if we were down the town I would send him into the shop to get the paper or whatever was needed.
“It might have been handier if I ran into the shop, but I wanted him to be the same as me and the rest of the family.
“We never saw him as disabled, unable to do some things perhaps, but that was the way I look at it to this day.” Patrick’s ability to focus on what he is doing is one of his strengths and academically that has rung through too. Despite his hectic swimming schedule and trying to make his way to Tokyo, which was further complicated by Covid-19 and a worldwide pandemic, Patrick also managed to keep his academic focus. He has just finished a four-year degree in economics and finance at UCD. That he did that and made Tokyo is no surprise to those who know him best. His uncle Shane, of DNG Flanagan Ford Auctioneers in Sligo, laughs when asked what he makes of Patrick: “I think all his nephews and nieces will end up working for him, he is academically so strong and nothing he achieves would surprise me, he has a bright future ahead of him, he’s an amazing young man and we are all so proud of him.”
While the family moved permanently to live in Rosses Point, they lived in Longford for many years. Patrick went to primary and second level school there.
Summers, other holidays, were spent almost exclusively in Rosses Point and now they are one of a large family group of Flanagans, among them Patrick’s grandmother Alice, living in Rosses Point.
Looking back at his days in school in Longford his mother recalls encouraging and then teaching Patrick to swim in the local swimming pool.
“In fourth or fifth class a few of his