Longford swimmer Patrick Flanagan in action on Day 9 of Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games
Longford's Patrick Flanagan will be the first member of Team Ireland in action on Day 9 of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
23 years old Patrick is in the pool to compete in the Men's 400m Freestyle S6 heats, his first competitive swim of the Tokyo Games. He will be in Heat 2 on Thursday, September 2 at 01:07am alongside opponents from Colombia, Mexico (x2), Italy, Portugal and the USA.
Just over 24 hours later, on Friday, September 3 at 01:23am, Patrick will race once again in Heat 2 of the Men's 100m backstroke S6 which also includes swimmers from Germany, France, Croatia, Italy, Ukraine and the Philippines.
PATRICK FLANAGAN PROFILE
Hometown: Rosses Point, Co Sligo.
Coach: David Malone.
Classification: S6.
Disability group: Spina Bifida.
Events: S6 100m Backstroke, S6 400m Freestyle.
Patrick grew up in Longford Town (his family only moved to Sligo in 2016) where he developed with the local swimming club which has also produced Tokyo Olympian Darragh Greene.
While in college in Dublin he moved to train with the national elite squad in Abbottstown. He was pipped for a medal in the 400m IM at the World Para Swimming Allianz European Championships in Dublin in 2018.
Patrick made the 400m freestyle final of the 2021 European Championships in Madeira and was 11th overall in the 100m Backstroke.
Patrick qualified with a degree in economics and finance from UCD (where he received an Ad Astra scholarship) in June 2021.