It was a Friday afternoon in July.
A couple of hundred people were in a swanky hotel in the capital, Dublin, for the opening of the Great Irish Open.
I was a bit of a wildcard.
I was a junior swimmer and, like most young people, I was trying to make it.
The day before the big event, I had spent the afternoon at a swimming school on the outskirts of Dublin.
I’d finished up my studies and decided to get back to the hotel.
But the pool was full and I was struggling to make my way to the showers, where I was going to spend the night.
I got out of bed and headed for the swimming centre.
I wasn’t thinking at the time, ‘I’m going to get to a swimming pool, I’ll be a bit tired.’
It was just a thought that I was looking forward to having the opportunity to swim.
But the pool wasn’t what I was hoping for.
Instead, the hotel’s manager came up to me and asked me if I wanted to swim with the other 200-plus swimmers.
The only other time I had been in a pool was a couple of weeks before at the European Championships in France.
I knew I was lucky enough to have that experience and I knew that I had nothing to lose.
I asked him to give me a drink of water and told him I was coming with him.
I told him the same thing when I got to the swimming area.
I went up the stairs and into the pool.
The pool was dark, so I thought maybe there would be a group there.
I didn’t think that would be the case.
The swimming pool is in a part of the city where it’s difficult to see people swimming and I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have made it if I had looked at the lights.
I tried to swim in the centre of the pool, but I ended up in a small pool surrounded by others, which was a little uncomfortable.
After a few minutes of swimming, the manager came out of the swimming pool and asked if I needed anything.
He said that I needed to go into the locker room.
I just went back into the swimming gym and sat down in a chair.
I had a bit more energy then usual and started talking to the other swimmers in the room.
I remember saying, ‘This is going to be a great experience.’
It took me a while to realise I was in trouble.
The manager was very calm and collected, but at some point, he decided that it was time to put me in the water.
He put me into the water and gave me a couple more drinks of water, saying, “Just let’s do this.”
I said I wasn’t really interested in swimming and asked the pool manager what was wrong.
He just said, “I’ll put you in the pool.”
I had been told that I wasnít allowed to swim because of the number of swimmers that I’d brought with me.
I think the manager thought I was too inexperienced and didn’t want me to swim too hard, so he put me under a blanket and told me that I didnít need to swim for an hour.
After about an hour, he finally put me back in the swimming room and said that if I didn�t swim, he would take me to the gym.
He had been telling me that he would get me into shape in the gym and then bring me out to the pool when I finished my studies.
I said, ‘If you want me out there, you’re not going to put my life in danger.’
He said, I know, but if I don’t swim, Iíll get into a pool.
I walked around the pool and realised that it wasníll be a while before I’d see a pool full of swammen.
The gym had already been used for other competitions that I hadn’t been able to join, like the US Open.
It was only when I arrived in Dublin and got in the shower that I realised that the pool had been completely changed.
It was dark and the water was really cold.
I walked into the gym where there were about 10 or so people, and I started to feel really weird and dizzy.
It wasní’t until I got in there and went to the toilet that I found out that I wouldnít be able to swim the rest of the day.
I started feeling very weak.
I felt very sick and a bit nauseous.
I thought I had contracted something and went into the shower to wash my face.
The next thing I knew, I felt as if I were being punched in the stomach.
I saw my phone vibrate and I felt like my life was going out of control.
I started feeling like I couldnít move at all and the coach was saying, ‘Thereís no room for me.
You have to go and get help.