It was the spectacle of Para rowing at London 2012 that sowed the seeds of an Olympic dream for Katie O’Brien; that dream becomes a reality at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium on Friday week when she fulfils what might well be her destiny.

The Clarinbridge woman is no stranger to overcoming obstacles put in her way, but even by her standards the past year has been a struggle.

She has suffered a succession of injuries in the run-up to the Games and is nursing herself through a carefully-planned – but limited – training programme to ensure she is in the best condition she can be for the heats of her Mixed Double Sculls on the Friday morning.

“I’ve had a plethora of injuries, to be honest – but right now it’s my back. It gets tight after a work-out and it’s just a question of doing as much as I can to stay in condition without overdoing it and exacerbating it,” she says from her training base outside Milan.

On top of that, the 27-year-old is getting used to a new partner in the boat, after the selectors replaced her previous partner, Roscommon man Steven McGowan, with 26-year-old Tiarnán O’Donnell from Limerick.

“Obviously this is difficult because you build up a relationship with your partner – and the truth is I’d be very close to both of them,” she says.

“It was always going to be a tough call but at the end of the day, it’s a numbers game – down to times in training, times on the water – and ultimately the selection is totally out of my hands. But it’s down to the science.”

Caption: Katie O’Brien, one of Galway’s six representatives at the Paralympics.

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