DIP into Gary O'Toole's pool of knowledge and you will find yourself anywhere but the shallow end. In fact, the newest addition to RTE's broadcasting team for the Olympics has created such a huge splash on the screen that his programme editor, Niall Cogley, cannot remember such "an astonishing response" to a newcomer in television.
"He's very confident, very expert on camera. He has all the qualities you would need and then some more. I believe we've had more feedback about Gary O'Toole than anything I can remember in the recent past," says Cogley.
Complimentary words indeed. But, this is no in house publicity push. If Michelle Smith has been the barrier breaker of the Atlanta Olympics, then Gary O'Toole has certainly made waves as the swimming analyst at home. Really, this should come as no surprise to those who know the multi faceted former European 200 metres breaststroke silver medallist.
O'Toole (26) is the eldest of four sons of Aidan and Kay O'Toole. He was reared in Bray. Two of his three brothers - Doran (25) and Ivor won gold at the Community Games, while the youngest, Aidan Jnr, competed in Mosney as well.
O'Toole's father brought him to Presentation College, Bray, to learn to swim at the tender age of three. He won the first of seven gold medals when he was seven in the Community Games at Mosney. He then joined the Trojan Club in Blackrock. He was a serious talent.
Rapid progress soon had him marked out as the "latest" Irish swimmer who could make the breakthrough into the upper echelon of world rankings. In 1986, he represented Ireland for the first time. Still only 16 years old, he shattered the Irish senior record in a 200 metre breaststroke event in Germany.
O'Toole climbed to number two at short course (25 metre pool) and number three in the 50 metre pool by 1989. But it is arguable whether he ever fully realised his potential, although Britain's Nick Gillingham did have to break the world record to deprive him of the European gold medal at Bonn in 1989. Two years later, O'Toole won gold in the World Student Games at Sheffield.
However, his father is "firmly convinced that if he had taken four years out to concentrate solely on his swimming he would have been an Olympic champion."
A four year Bachelor of Science honours degree in biochemistry at University College Dublin enabled him to make the move into the medical faculty, and in May of this year, O'Toole secured an honours degree in medicine. At present, he is a surgical intern at St Vincent's Hospital, Dublin.
RTE's Bill O'Herlihy is unstinting in his admiration for O'Toole. "For a guy with such a limited involvement in television he has massive authority You can't help but be gobsmacked at his uncannily accurate predictions. I think he has managed to demythologise swimming and make it understandable for everyone."
O'Toole is also doing what so many forget to do when they leave a sport at the highest level. Even with the hectic schedule his job brings, O'Toole has taken on the responsibility of director of swimming at the Trojan Club. Head coach Carol Walsh describes him as "very controlled, methodical and organised, and very good at recognising problems in a swimmer".
He has already committed himself to another year at Trojan. This includes 5.20 a.m. and 6 a.m. starts on Thursday and Saturday mornings respectively and reflects his determination to give something back to the sport that went a long way towards shaping him as a man.
No doubt, O'Toole has brought an awareness of the sport to the rest of us well beyond the simple mechanics of the various swimming strokes and the cases to be made for individual competitors aspiring to Olympic glory. Anything that may have an influence on a race is unashamedly delved into, deciphered and made understandable for Joe Public before predictions are left out to dry long before the line of eight break the surface of the water.
O'Toole himself has only begun to test the waters of a promising medical career. Next week, his rear view mirror will be full of all things Olympic and the short road ahead will beckon him to St Vincent's Hospital and a date with destiny.