As a youngster, I always dreamed of winning an Olympic medal or playing in Croke Park. I played football and hurling and swam from an early age, but it wasn't until I was 19 that I started training properly for swimming. I wouldn't recommend that anyone start taking it seriously before that age.

I attended St Brigid's National School, near my home in Castleknock, Dublin, but spent my second-level years at St Declan's CBS, Cabra. St Declan's was a great experience. People from Castleknock went there, but you also got a lot of boys from the inner city, from Cabra and Clonsilla. It was a great mix and my education was a lot less sheltered than it would have been if I had stayed in Castleknock.

You got to live in the real world and you learned to accept people for what they were and not because of where they came from. It gives you a more open set of values.

I didn't mind school, but I always preferred to be out kicking a ball. Hurling was my favourite sport at the time. Diarmud O Luanaigh was my science teacher up to Inter Cert, and he was also in charge of hurling. He was the teacher who go the most out of me - both on the hurling field and in science. I got my best results in his class.

One time he told my parents that what I lacked in ability in hurling I made up for in terms of hard work and dedication. I think that sums me up. I'm not the most talented swimmer in the world, but I make up for it by hard work and my passion for the sport.

That description gave me encouragement and I worked hard to stay on the team. Unfortunately, a week before we were due to play in Croke Park in the under-16 schools' final, I broke my knuckle and couldn't compete. I can remember crying - not with the pain, but because I knew I wouldn't be able to play in Croke Park.

I went to DCU to study analytical science. It wasn't my first choice - I had wanted to do dentistry - but it proved to be the best thing that ever happened to me because I was able to put time into my swimming. I graduated in 1994 and started to do a PhD, but I took time off to compete in the 1996 Olympics and I've continued to put the PhD on hold for the time being.

I'm going to Germany to spend six months training with one of the world's best swim coaches. In Ireland we don't have coaches who are experienced at that level and the facilities here are deplorable. Other countries are pumping money into the sport, but we're operating on a different level.

I'm moving to Germany to see how good I can be. If I stay here I'll never know. After six months I'll evaluate my situation. If the coach is convinced that I can get to the top, I'll stay on.

I'm currently 16th in the world in my event. All I'm really thinking about is the Olympics in September 2000.

Swimming consumes your life. You put everything else on hold. People think of it as just a hobby, but the training is mental and physical agony. You do, though, get to see the world and that's an education in itself. You get a world view of things.