SWIMMING:Gary O'Toole was the face of Irish swimming for some years, although his ventures in Olympic pools in Seoul and Barcelona bore little in the way of medals. But O'Toole set the bar with a European silver, and swimming began to believe in itself.
Few could have predicted Michelle Smith De Bruin would turn the sport on its head in 1996. A week in the Olympic pool in Georgia Tech, Atlanta, gave Ireland its first ever Olympic swimming medals – three gold medals and a bronze.
Out of 349 accredited female swimmers in 1996, De Bruin was the best. Her swims alone put Ireland third behind the USA and Russia in the nation-by-nation list of individual gold.
No one has since come close to that, although two teenagers, Gráinne Murphy and Sycerika McMahon, have proven themselves at European level, 17-year-old McMahon taking the 50m breaststroke silver and Murphy touching second to Lotte Fris over 1,500m at European level.
McMahon has shown the most recent form with her breaststroke European silver earlier this year and is a huge talent.
Murphy is off the 800m freestyle time her competitors are swimming by around 10 seconds. A lifetime best could see her in the top 16.
Sprinter Barry Murphy (100m breaststroke and 50m freestyle) and Melanie Nocher (100m and 200m backstroke) will be satisfied with personnel bests.
Johnny Watterson
VERDICT– Starters orders
Melanie Nocher will look to get out of her heats and to do so will be a triumph, while Sycerika McMahon and Gráinne Murphy will aim for the top 16 and to gain vital experience of competing at this level.
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