Offaly Olympians and Paralympian sporting profiles - Nicole Turner

Compiled by Kevin Corrigan

Garryhinch (Portarlington) woman, Nicole Turner has excelled in Para swimming events for over a decade. Just 19 years of age, she will be competing in her second Paralympics in Tokyo having competed in five events in the 2016 showpiece in Rio de Janeiro – her best placing was fifth in the 50 metres butterfly as she set personal bests in six out of her ten races and made all five finals.

A brilliantly talented and versatile swimmer, Nicole has made further progress since then and she will compete in the 50 metre freestyle, 50 metre butterfly, 100 metres breaststroke and 200 metres individual medley in Tokyo. Having started in the Laois Marlins club, she now races for the NAC Swim Club which is based out of the High Performance National Aquatic Centre in Abbotstown, Dublin. 

Her first major event was the World Dwarf Games in 2009 when she took four gold medals and she has been a serial medal winner since then. She made a big breakthrough when competing in the World IPC Swimming Championships in 2015 when just 13 years of age and since then she has won medals at the European IPC Swimming Championships in 2016 (two silver, one bronze), 2018 (one silver) and 2021 (two silver and two bronze). She also won a World bronze medal in the 50m butterfly in 2019 and is currently ranked second in the world in the event.