Paul O'Hehir at the National Aquatic Centre
Evert Van Acer trains hard because he is an athlete. He has travelled from Uganda - via host town Roscommon - to compete at the Special Olympics.
Swimming is his passion. Today, at the National Aquatic Centre, Evert lined up beside athletes from Pakistan and Zimbabwe in the preliminary rounds of the 25m breaststroke.
The four competitors are led from the changing area, hand in hand, by volunteers. They take their place behind their allotted lane and retire to the white plastic chairs behind the starting blocks while the stadium announcer introduces them to the crowd.
Evert Van Acer climbs into his chair and sits cross-legged contemplating the task in hand - his eyes reveal two years of hard training boils down to this moment. The two Pakistani athletes and the Zimbabwean representative do likewise and stretch their legs out, toes almost tipping the water.
Evert's toes can't even tip the floor beneath. He is short. He is just nine years old. There are 11 years and roughly two-and-a-half feet in height between himself and Zimbabwe's Robert Chirenje.
The swimmers take to their blocks but Evert has a notion. The drop to the water is proving a problem and he instructs the volunteers that his staring point will be from the pool's edge, below his lane eight marker.
Hooter sounds. Bodies hit the water but Evert misses the break and is, momentarily, isolated.
However, shouts of "go on, go on" spur him into action and the red and white cap in lane eight is suddenly creating a splash. By this time, Chirenje is a matter of lengths from touching the wall in first place but the crowd have their sights fixed on the youngster in the far lane.
Evert is tidy in his motion and busily makes his way down the 25 metre lane, flicking glances to the stands on either side of him as he goes. Always smiling. He bashes his hands triumphantly off the wall, stopping the clock in 35.58 seconds, 14 seconds behind Chirenje and a long way last. The crowd go ballistic. They adore the nine year old.
"The crowd really liked him but after the race he said very little," explained Ugandan Head Aquatics Coach and Evert's school teacher, Roger Mukasa. "In the changing rooms I said to him that he'd done very well but he just said 'maybe, but I didn't win'."
Like his teammate and friend Liinah Bukenya - who took this venue by storm on Tuesday and also today when she won bronze - Evert has found a place in Irish hearts.
Uganda have just the two swimming representatives. Gems the pair of them.
Two hours later, the architects and constructors responsible for this splendid arena were put on standby as Ireland's Maeve Phillips did her best to bring the house down when powering her way to gold in the 50m freestyle Division 3 final.
Spectators, volunteers, lifeguards, coaches and team-mates screamed, cheered and whooped the 19-year-old, racing in lane six, all the way to the wall, which she touched just four hundredths of a second ahead of Mexico's Sandra Garcia Lozano.
Mary Ellen O'Connor, the jubilant Irish Swimming coach, said her athlete "swam very well" and that the victory had been a "privilege to watch."
"She is a great athlete and has been training hard all year," O'Connor enthused. "I think the people of Ireland will really realise that these people are athletes, professional athletes."
There were a number of other Irish athletes competing in the 50m freestyle in which there was 40 division finals. Glasnevin's Norma Murphy was fourth in Division 18, Catriona Kearney, from Bagnalstown, Co Carlow, swam fifth in Division 16.
In the men's, Tyrone's Stephen Campbell came home seventh in Division 23 while Division 36 saw Peadar Connolly of Newry, Co Down and Bantry's Damien O'Connor - a medal winner earlier in the week - finish sixth and eighth respectively.
Earlier this morning, John Paul Sherry, from Maynooth, Co Kildare, turned in the best Irish performance when finishing third in Division 12 of the 25m Freestyle preliminary round.
Sarah Carroll (14) took fourth in the Division 4 contest as did Anne Majella McCormack in Division 8 while 54-year-old Leonard McEvoy battled courageously in Division 18 but tired in the closing stages and finished at the rear of the six strong field.