Healy enjoyed an encouraging indoor season that included a personal best of 52.08 over 400m in the World Championship in Birmingham, where she reached the semi-final, and she has followed that up with standout efforts over shorter distances.

In June, she broke the Irish 100m record and did likewise over 200m at Monday’s Cork City Sports meet at CIT.

Over the last four years, Shane knew the potential that I had,” said Healy. “I wouldn’t see it. He’s always miles ahead of me knowing the potential I can achieve. He told me if I moved to Waterford what we could achieve.

“I really stepped up to the 400m this year. That would have been impossible in Cork with the longer, sloggy sessions. You need the group there and you need the group atmosphere. Even building on that next year and for the next few years ahead, it’s really exciting.”

The switch down the coast was made in September when the 23-year began a two-year Masters at Waterford IT on the back of four years at UCC and the group dynamic of the work she is doing under McCormack is paying off.

The coach is now able to tweak training on a daily basis if required and training alongside a group comprised mostly of male athletes seeking and recording PBs is a long way removed from her days running against the stopwatch.

Healy is unafraid of challenges, given she had already changed career course from nursing to the computer industry, though it is athletics that is foremost in her immediate thoughts.

Next stop is the Morton Games in Dublin tomorrow, when she competes in the 400m, though she has committed to the 100m and 200m for the European Championships in Berlin next month.

I did an indoor season at 400m and now I want to switch it up and capitalise on the speed that I have at the moment and take that on,” Healy explained.

“Four hundred metres is a long-term game. You see all the 400m athletes across Europe and they’re all in their late twenties. You build on it year after year. Now, we have the speed, that’s what we want to use. Speed wins over 400m as well: You see how fast the girls go through 200. It’s becoming a speed event. Build on that constantly, then transfer that into the 400m in years to come.”

Healy and her colleagues on an Irish team — to be named at the month’s end for the event at the Olympiastadion — will compete on the back of a stunning summer for the sport with a succession of medals recorded at U18 and U20 levels.

She will join up at the London Diamond League meet this weekend with the 4x100m relay team that claimed a silver at the World U20 Championships in Finland and she believes such high-profile podium places will raise all boats, up to and including the senior ranks.

“Absolutely. It’s great for the juniors to have such great achievements, and we need the juniors to transfer into seniors as well, not just have the junior career, but make it as a senior.

When I was a junior, I only went to European juniors, I didn’t go to world juniors. You see a lot of stats floating around Twitter, that only 35% go through to senior. That’s all about the coaching structure and coaches reaching out and seeing what works with other groups and what doesn’t work.

“The athletes, as well, have to realise that, yes, you run off natural talent to a certain point, and then it takes a lot of hard work, takes big calls. It’s about choosing the right college, and not chasing the college, just because of scholarships.”