American Keith Shepard eased himself slowly into the pool. Lane eight is his designated starting point but he assumes position in lane 10. Nobody minds, this is to be his race.
There are two free lanes between Shepard and his nearest rival, ErikZumbado of Costa Rica. Four other swimmers complete the line up for theDivision 12 200m freestyle preliminary round.
As his rivals take to their blocks, Shepard is hugging the far corner ofthe pool's perimeter wall. He is in conversation with a pool-sidelifeguard. Words of encouragement no doubt from the volunteer but many inthe arena think the athlete is having second thoughts. Not on yourlife.
"On your marks," the starter blasts. Hooter sounds and Giannis Stratigopoulos of Greece leaps from block four like a gazelle and quickly devours half the pool.
Shepard is reluctant to budge, at first, but the female lifeguard'ssterling work has struck a cord and the American soon finds a rhythm andsets off. By now, his rivals are making the turn at the top of the pool,heading back on their second length of eight. Shepard is through 10metres and opts for a breather.
The onlookers sense this race could take some time but Shepard continuesto capture their attention. The volunteers whip up a frenzy inthe stands and the arena is soon bouncing to loud chants for the32-year-old in the far lane.
Stratigopoulos, meanwhile, is tearing home on his eighth and final lengthto slap the wall in a time of 4 minutes 4 seconds. Zumbado is nextbest, 18 seconds behind the Greek. Shepard is just reaching the half-waypoint and is the only swimmer left in the pool. But he's loving it, we'reloving it.
The swimmers for the next race have long been sat in the white plasticchairs behind the starting blocks. They too are cheering, clapping andwhooping for the American who takes another long break before weighing uphis assault on the final length.
No pit stops this time, though, as he makes a determined and focusedbee-line for the finish 25 metres in front of him. He palms the wall andthe clock stops. 18 minutes 24 seconds reads the giant scoreboard at theend of the pool. Shepard steps out of the pool, towels down, blissfullyunaware of the tremendous and touching impact he has made on everyone heretoday.
Ireland, meanwhile, added two more medals to their collection later in theday. Laura Jane Dunne, Karina Houlihan, Catriona Kearney and Brid Lynchpowered home in lane one to snatch gold in the Division 1 final of the4x50 Freestyle relay. Chants of 'ole, ole, ole' greeted the quartet uponexiting the pool and they were then congratulated by An Taoiseach, Mr Ahern.
Minutes later, Stephen Campbell, Peadar Connolly, Tony McManus and DamienO'Donovan claimed bronze in a thrilling Division 6 decider with Cuba andthe Dominican Republic.
In the morning's 200m Freestyle preliminary rounds Tipperary's gold medal winner Karina Houlihan finished fourth in Division 4 while her relay team-mate Laura Jane Dunne, of Dundrum, Dublin, touched the wall in fifth spot in Division 3.
In the men's competition, Lucan's Tony McManus weakened - after a powerfulopening few lengths - in the closing stages of Division 11 to finishseventh.