Ellen Walshe toasted an "absolutely savage" weekend at the European Short Course Championships in Poland after further enhancing her reputation with gold and silver medals.
The 24-year-old Dubliner had a remarkable few days in Lublin.
On Saturday, she nabbed silver in the 200m individual medley, swimming 2:04.78 behind gold medal winner Marrit Steenbergen of the Netherlands.
The following day, Walshe went one better, producing a superb performance to take 200m butterfly gold. In doing so, Walshe became the first Irishwoman to win a European short course title.
"It was a stacked field of fliers, and it was just going to be who had the better back end," Walshe said as she reflected on that historic gold.
"You kind of had to hang on till 150 then try and bring it home the last 50. That's what I did, I just kicked like f**k!
"You've got to stick to your own process which is so important, to not race anyone else's race. I know the back end can be strong.
"It's definitely a weakness I have, I need to get out quicker. I'm trying to work on it. I probably need to be out a bit quicker with these girls and kind of help myself through the back end instead of hurting so bad."
Self critical in her quest for even greater heights, Walshe was also able to keep things in perspective.
The sight of any Irish athlete standing on a podium while Amhrán na bhFiann is played will never be taken for granted, and the two-time Olympian admitted she was keen to really enjoy the spectacle.
"You've got to enjoy these moments because they don't come very often," she added.
"I guess to stand at the top of the podium definitely doesn't come often.
"It's my first gold medal at the international stage so you have to enjoy the moment because it's over now, it's over very quick. It was great to have the flag and see my parents in the stands.
"Thanks to the lads in the stands for singing the anthem for me. It was super special and you don't get it very often."
Up next for Walshe is the Irish Winter National Championships, which begin on Friday at the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin.
"I think it's going to be a great meet," she said. "Obviously it's the last one before Christmas. We're excited to get back up on the blocks and race again.
"It's definitely going to be mentally and physically very tough for us coming off a meet, but I think we've all had a very strong meet here so we can build on that heading into next week and hopefully see some more good results on the board.
"It was absolutely savage. It's extremely important to keep the energy really high in the team. Some results can be disappointing, but we've got to use each other and feed off each other through this meet. The team is in a great place."
