The Olympic swim coach from Athlone

In 1996 swimming was big news in Ireland. At that summer's Olympic Games in Atlanta Michelle Smith shattered expectations by taking home three gold medals and one bronze. While Smith's achievement and her subsequent drug test controversy was a landmark in Irish sporting history, the swimming achievement of a local native at the Atlanta Games is not so widely-known. Peter Banks, who was born in Athlone and whose mother's family owned Molloy's pub on Dublingate Street, coached 16-year-old Florida girl Brooke Bennett to gold in the 800 metre freestyle at the 1996 games. Four years later he guided Bennett to two further gold medals at the Sydney Olympics, while another of his protégés, Maritza Correia, was a silver medallist as part of a USA Women's relay team at the 2004 Games in Athens. After living in Florida for 30 years, Peter returned to Ireland last year to take up the post of High Performance Director with Swim Ireland. Speaking to the Westmeath Independent last week, he looked back on his journey to date. The family of his mother, Marie (nee Molloy), owned Molloy's pub on Dublingate Street while his father, Sean Banks, was originally from Longford. Peter was born in Athlone. He moved to Dublin at an early age but would regularly return to spend summer holidays and other school breaks here. He is currently based in Dublin but has a number of relatives in Athlone including his sister, Paula, who works with FAS in the town. It is perhaps not surprising that he carved out a name for himself in sport, as his uncle Peter Molloy was a renowned footballer with Athlone Town and his grand-uncle was Dinny Hannon, a legendary player who lifted the FAI Cup with Athlone Town in 1924 and lined out for the Irish Free State at the Olympics in Paris the same year. Peter always had an interest in sport and played rugby and basketball. However the fact that his school in Dublin, Marian College, had a swimming pool was to prove most influential. "The swimming facilities in Ireland were quite sparse but we had a swimming pool at the school and we made the most of it," he said. "I wouldn't call myself a great swimmer. I swam at national events but not internationally." When he finished school he didn't know which direction his career was headed. "I wasn't sure what I was going to do but I got involved in lifeguard work and then I got a job with the Newpark Sports Centre in Dublin where I worked for 12 or 13 years." After his own progress as a swimmer was hampered by injury he became involved in coaching and was assistant coach to the Irish Olympic swimming team at the 1988 Games. Peter's wife, Maureen, is a US native and in 1989 the couple moved to Tampa, Florida. The swimming world Peter encountered in the States bore little resemblance to the one he had left behind in Ireland. "Obviously the US is one of the best nations in the world for swimming. It's very competitive over there. A lot of the clubs employ full-time coaches and the whole scene is much more professional than it was in Ireland. "Being there gave me a chance to do what I wanted to do, which was experience swimming on a different level." He stated that, as a coach, he was largely self-taught. "I just tried to keep moving myself along. I would read a lot and learn a lot from the other coaches I worked with. I'd make mistakes and then try to learn and gain from them." Working with the Blue Wave club in Florida, his career began to take off in the 1990s. In 1994 he was named Florida's Senior Coach of the Year and two years later he coached Brooke Bennett to Olympic gold. "We ended up producing a good club environment at that time and there were a lot of excellent swimmers coming through," he said. "Brooke was very competitive and dedicated. She grew up just like any other teenager, except for the fact that she was a very good athlete who was always trying to improve. "She started to progress pretty well in her teen years and made the US national team at the age of 14, which would have been unusual. "Brooke was definitely one of the most impressive athletes I worked with. It wasn't just her physical talent - it was the combination of that and her mental toughness." Peter served as assistant women's coach to the US team at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, where Bennett took home two further gold medals. Following this achievement he was presented with the Swim Coach of the Year award by the American Swimming Coaches Association in 2000. There was further Olympic success in Athens four years later when, under Peter's watch, Maritza Correia was a silver medallist as part of a US women's relay team. Peter also served for three years as the Director of Club Development for the American Swim Coaches Association, travelling around the States to educate other coaches and club representatives. Last May he took up his current role, returning home to become High Performance Director with Swim Ireland. "In the US I set myself the challenge of coaching at the top level, which I think I achieved, so I thought it would be another challenge to come back and try to pass on some of the knowledge I gained there," he said. Outside of swimming, he enjoys golf but doesn't get time to play as often as he'd like. His wife is currently still living in the US so they both travel between the two countries on a fairly regular basis. He said life has been a "whirlwind" since he took on the position with Swim Ireland last year. The role means he is responsible for Ireland's elite swimmers as well as developing the sport at the top level in this country. His target is to have six Irish swimmers qualify for the 2012 Olympics in London, which would be twice the number that qualified for the last Games in Beijing. Asked to assess the current health of swimming in Ireland, he replied: "We need to raise the level of training and commitment. Our swimmers should be consistently training and swimming at a world class level, and that has been lacking. "The job has been great so far. It's a tough challenge, but the support Swim Ireland and the Sports Council gives to my position helps to promote high performance. "Our aim is to have six qualifiers for the next Olympics, and to have some finalists from that group. I think that's possible," he concluded.