At 30 Ellen Keane, gold medal winning paralympic swimmer, trailblazer and one of three new judges on RTÉ’s hit show Ireland’s Fittest Family, is on a mission to find out who she is outside of the swimming pool. It might be a stretch to call this a spiritual journey, but when we meet for coffee in Dublin the conversation quickly turns to a month she spent in Indonesia while travelling last year and various “signs” from “the universe” that she is on the right path.

Keane retired from swimming last year after missing out on a medal in the Paris games, having competed in four successive paralympics – winning bronze in Rio in 2016 and gold in Tokyo 2020, both in the 100 metre breaststroke. That gold was the highlight of an astonishing paralympic career which began in Beijing at the age of 13. She remains the youngest Irish person to compete at that level, and has probably done more than anyone else in this country to increase awareness of the paralympics.

The last couple of years have been a rich time of self-discovery for the former athlete. Keane explains that she has found herself “leaning into the universe and the science of the universe”. Having struggled with self-acceptance over the years, this philosophical approach has given her more confidence. “I’m much more content in myself and my decisions now,” she says.

Keane is hardly the first person to explore this intuitive way of living, which is having something of a moment. Published last month, The Signs by Dr Tara Swart, subtitled “the new science of how to trust your instincts”, is just one example of a slew of books that endorse this way of thinking. Smart and self-aware, Keane is also conscious that talk of “leaning into the universe” can induce serious eye-rolling. “Sometimes when you talk about trusting the universe people are like, ‘Okay, here’s your tinfoil hat.’ Some people don’t get it. I think a lot more women do.”

She doesn’t seem too bothered about what anybody else thinks, and anyway, for her the approach is clearly working. When Keane broke up with her boyfriend recently, the philosophy helped her to “see the bigger picture of why we’r