Elite athlete Ciara Neville only had a short sprint to receive her degree this Thursday as she graduated from University of Limerick.
The international sprinter was one of 3,500 students to graduate at UL this week where she received her award for the Bachelor of Science in Sport and Exercise Sciences from the Faculty of Education and Health Sciences.
A native of Limerick, Ciara enrolled in the degree programme in 2019, but her connection with the campus began much earlier.
“I grew up around UL, enjoying the beautiful campus on family walks and training here all my life. I always knew it was where I wanted to study and the amazing facilities for both my athletic and academic career made it an obvious choice for me,” she explained.
“It’s a bit surreal to think that I have been coming to UL since I was a child and training on the UL track when I began athletics at six years old and that I still train here every day, even now.
“I feel extremely lucky to have so many amazing memories to look back on from childhood, training and now from all the amazing experiences I’ve had throughout my time as a student as well,” Ciara added.
Ciara’s student athlete career got off to an impressive start, winning her first intervarsity 60m competition for UL, then going on to finish fifth in the European U23s that summer, and set a new personal best becoming the second fastest Irish woman ever.
In June 2021 in the lead up to the postponed Olympics, Ciara was in a qualification position when she had a serious injury resulting in surgery and two years recovery.
“It has been a rocky road with injury, and I have recently just raced for the first time in two years after recovering from hamstring surgery, but I am looking forward to continuing my training for the upcoming Olympic Games in 2024,” Ciara explained.
While Ciara’s star continued to soar during her athletic career in UL, it was not her first experience of success.
“I have always been sports crazy and played multiple different sports growing up before deciding to focus solely on athletics when I was 15,” she said.
“I got the opportunity to represent Ireland for my first time at the European U20 Championships in July that year - 2015 - shortly followed by the European Youth Olympic Festival the same summer where I won the gold medal in the 100m and got my first taste of what it’s like to be winning at international level and standing on the top of the podium with the Irish national anthem playing and the Irish flag draped around my shoulders,” Ciara recalled.
In the following years she equaled the national record for 60m in 2017 and as part of the Irish 4x100m relay, finished second in the World U20 Championships in 2018, to list but a few of her achievements.
The 23-year-old was among thousands of new graduates being conferred at UL over five days of the 2023 Autumn Conferring Ceremonies this week.
Asked what advice she would give to potential UL students receiving first round offers this week, Ciara said: “One hundred per cent grab it with both hands and go for it. It’s a massive opportunity and privilege to be able to study in such a prestigious university with one of the best campuses in the world. Even better if you are interested in sports - I’m biased of course - but there really is a club or society for every interest.”
For Ciara, her CAO applications were focused on going to UL and to stay on the track that she has known since she was child.
“The facilities we have at UL really are world class and it made my time studying here so seamless having my classes, the library, the track and gym in such close proximity. It really is a high-performance athlete’s dream campus.
“I enjoyed how practical Sports Science is, getting experience in a variety of labs such as biomechanics, physiology, nutrition, strength and conditioning. It was the variety of these practical elements that was definitely my favourite. It helped me a lot in overlapping with training and also the variety of the skill sets I learned set me up for many different career paths.
“UL was the first time I felt my teachers wanted me to excel not just in academics but that both were equally important. All of my lecturers and the sports scholarship staff really care for the dual career and did anything they could to help ensure I was best set up to perform to the best of my abilities both in the classroom and on the track. Having that support network to turn to if I had an issues with my timetable and training or competition really was a standout for me during my time at UL.”
Ciara was one of more than 100 of UL’s finest athletes from 19 different sports presented with a scholarship from the UL Sports Scholarship Academy this year, the aim of which is to support dual-career student athletes to meet the requirements of their degree programme, while also honouring their sporting commitments.
“The sports scholarship really completed my time at UL and made it so much easier to balance the student/athlete dual career. Being provided with accommodation on campus overlooking the track and so close to my classes allowed me to spend more time recovering and eating properly between training and college. It also introduced me to a whole new world of like-minded people from so many different sports and making friends for life, which made my time at UL so memorable,” Ciara explained.
While Ciara now joins a community of 120,000 alumni, she will continue to race for UL, as athletes can continue competing for their university for one year after finishing their degree.
“Next for me is to focus solely on training leading into the 2024 Paris Olympics. After that who knows, I might further my education at University of Limerick, but for now I’ll be spending my time on the UL track instead of the library,” she concluded.