"Every time we crash I feel guilty,” Sean Hahessy says over a morning cup of coffee.

As a pilot for legally blind Paralympian Peter Ryan, Hahessy’s main job is to steer and brake their tandem bike – and he often feels the pressure.

“You shouldn’t feel guilty about things like that,” Ryan chimes in. “Sometimes there’s just nothing you can do.”

It’s not just feeling like he needs to protect his teammate, though – it’s the drive to succeed, to win every race, that often brings on the guilt when they sometimes, however rarely, crash.

Most of us are only aware of the Paralympics for one month every four years.

In actuality, these elite athletes, including Ryan and Sean, are training daily – always preparing for the next race, the next championship.

They juggle jobs, speaking and PR engagements (Ryan is a motivational speaker as well as a Paralympian) and training camps, with their end goal being the best tandem cycling team in the world.

Tandem cyclist Peter Ryan and his pilot Sean Hahessy near Peter's home in Thurles. \ Ramona Farrelly

“Often people will see a Paralympian compete against other Paralympians and think: ‘Isn’t that nice, they’re doing a great job (despite their disability)’,” Ryan, a native of Upperchurch, Co Tipperary, muses.

“It often isn’t until a Paralympian competes in regular races with able-bodied athletes (and wins) that people understand how highly skilled we are as professional athletes.”

Overcoming obstacles

Sean admits that even he knew very little about the Paralympics before getting involved in 2015. As a young boy he tried out every type of sport, but nothing caught his fancy.

Then his father introduced him to his local cycling club in Carrick-on-Suir. He was immediately hooked.

“I was useless from ages 12 to 16,” he laughs. “I went about five years without winning a race. Then it all happened very quickly, I went from winning my first race to joining the under 18s national team in under a year.”

During this time, Sean was training hard, competing often and winning lots. He rode in the Junior Tour of Ireland and in the 2012 European Championships.

“I was so obsessed with being healthy, it was almost unhealthy,” he continues. “Then I had a bad year, which included a crash.

I rushed my recovery and just wasn’t getting the racing results I wanted. I needed to take some time to examine my options.

At the same time, Ryan was also examining his options after a few tough years. A consummate athlete, he spent his teens training hard for the minor Tipperary hurling team.

At 19 he started missing easy passes and had trouble seeing the ball. Assuming he needed contact lenses, he went to see his local optician who immediately sent him to Waterford Regional Hospital for extensive testing – which ended up taking the better part of six months.

He was eventually diagnosed with Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy.

He went from having perfect vision to almost none in a space of 10 months; turning his entire world upside down with the uncertainty of it all.

He didn’t know at what stage his vision loss would end and he didn’t know how he would carry on when his passion for sport and his work revolved around being able to see.

“I got my diagnosis at 20. I was working as a plasterer and then at OMC – a fabrication company. They kept me on as long as they could, before my eyesight deteriorated completely. I’ve always been grateful for that.”

When Ryan could no longer work, he says he felt as though his social life was the only part of his old life he had left.

He would go drinking for days on end, making sure he was with a different group of friends each time so as not to attract attention to his struggles.

Finally, after an eight-day drinking binge, his family sat him down and asked him to consider going to a treatment facility. He agreed.

“It was a 28-day programme and then two years of aftercare, which included a monthly support group. I found the support group to be really helpful, because that first year is always the most important for recovery.”

Working in tandem

Soon after Ryan began his recovery he started to look for ways to get back into sport. He tried several Paralympic sports before he discovered tandem cycling.

“At first I thought, coming from a high level of athletics, that the Paralympics might be a step down for me – but then I probably came last in my first race.

It became clear quickly that it wasn’t going to be easy to qualify for the Olympics.

However, after several months of training, he won the National Championships in June 2013.

In 2015, Sean and Ryan ended up in the same training camp in Portugal. Sean was asked to come to the camp by the Irish Sports Council to see if he might want to become a pilot.

Ryan, having gone through several pilots at this stage, instantly liked Sean– they worked well together, had lots in common and were both from Tipperary.

They were encouraged by their coach to become a team.

For Hahessy, tandem cycling was the slight career change he needed to get back to himself.

“The tandem came along at exactly the right time. If you like racing (like me) you like riding your bike fast and tandem riding gives you double the speed. There’s much more power behind it.”

Hahessy, a graduate of Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT), had studied sports coaching and performance.

He knew he wanted a career in cycling and becoming a tandem pilot has enabled him to realise his dream.

After cycling together for just a few months, Ryan and Sean found themselves at their first World Track Championships.

This was when they first saw the possibility of representing their country at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

“The emphasis, for me was always on making a living out of cycling,” Sean admits. “I never would have been aiming for Rio until we made it to the World Championships – then I began to think it was a real possibility.”

Tokyo 2020

While they both agree the Olympics were a career highlight and an honour to take part in, there was little time to bask in the glow before getting back into training for their next race.

This past August they were in South Africa for the World Championships, now they’re busy with training.

They adhere to the same schedule, which includes Sean driving from Carrick-on-Suir to Thurles four to five days a week.

They are always looking forward: to the next race, the next world championships, and now the next Paralympic games in Tokyo.

Ryan and Sean both went to that training camp in 2015 needing something more – now through their friendship both can agree that while they have since improved as athletes; their personal growth has been as important as the many races they have won together.

“I’m a lot more relaxed now,” Sean says, referring to his previous obsession with fitness.

“That’s my fault,” Ryan laughs.

When asked if the loss of his eyesight could ever be considered a blessing in disguise, he turns serious.

“It very nearly has been,” he says. “Before I lost my eyesight I was always ‘the cool lad’ and now I’m happy in myself.

I’ve gotten to see the world through my bike. I’m just back from surfing and doing yoga in Bali. I never thought I’d have had half the experiences I’ve had.

There is so much more on the horizon for these athletes. With the support of their families, friends and local communities, they are always on the lookout for new sponsors to enable them to continue on with their training and travelling.

You can follow their journey on their website www.peterryan.ie, where Sean shares videos from their road races and travels, or on Facebook and Instagram.

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