DCU Voices

DCU VOICES 66 Swimmer Brendan Hyland and track athlete Sophie Becker talk to Eoin Sheahan about their experiences of competing at the Tokyo Olympics. For television viewers all around the world, the Tokyo Olympics delivered pure theatre on the entertainment front this year. Naturally, for those actually competing in the games, it was on a whole other level. “It was mad, it was surreal,” are the words of Brendan Hyland, who competed in the 200-metre butterfly and 4x200-metre freestyle swimming events in Tokyo. “It was such a thrilling and exhilarating experience. I don’t think I’ll ever experience such an adrenaline rush again,” said Sophie Becker, one- quarter of the mixed relay team that made the 4x400-metre final on the track. Both Hyland and Becker are DCU alumni, having studied Accounting & Finance and Genetics & Cell Biology at the university, respectively. “I was on scholarship in DCU and I lived in the ‘athletics house’ which was part of what made me into the athlete I am today, being surrounded by like-minded people,” says Becker, a Wexford native. “I did my internship in my third year in the place I’m still working today; INTRA is great. I then split my fourth year over two years and did my last exam in May. I knew a big year was coming up and knew I wouldn’t be able to study for final year and train for the Olympics. That was the best decision I ever made, because I’m graduating with a good degree and got to go to the Olympics, so that’s the best outcome I could have asked for.” Hyland, who started off in Actuarial Mathematics, says: “I was academically good, but I wasn’t great at doing my college work and staying on top of it.” “I eventually switched to Accounting and Finance and started DCU graduates’ Olympian achievements Brendan Hyland (BAAccounting and Finance, 2019) Eoin Sheahan (BACommunication Studies, 2015); Broadcast Journalist with Newstalk andOff The Ball @EoinSheahan