OLYMPICS LONDON 2012:WHATEVER ABOUT winning medals the chances of any great depth of Irish representation in the so-called Olympic aquatic sports appear to be sinking fast.

The qualification period for London next summer is rapidly diminishing, and the main Irish aquatic sports – namely swimming, sailing, rowing and canoeing – are still someway off target, or indeed have already missed the boat.

That was the message from the performance heads of the relevant sporting bodies at a media briefing in Dublin yesterday, and while there is still time and hope for the original London qualifying targets to be met, the next few months will be critical.

The big concern is swimming, where so far only Barry Murphy has achieved the necessary A-standard, in the 100 metres breaststroke. Sailing should still qualify two boats, ideally at December’s World Championships in Perth, but the chances of having any Irish rowers in London is “no better than 50-50”, while it seems the Irish canoeists have already blown their chance.

“Our target was to qualify six swimmers,” said Peter Banks, high performance director with Swim Ireland. “We’re one down, five still to go, so while it’s obviously going to be tough, I still believe five more is realistic.

“We’re only accepting A-standards. The swimmers know that so there’s no grey area there. But really the next few months will tell who gets to London, and who doesn’t, and right now we have about 15 or so swimmers that we’re focusing on.”

One Irish swimmer particularly intent on making London is Wexford teenager Gráinne Murphy, who won the silver medal in the 1,500 metres freestyle at the 2010 European Championships – but failed to repeat that form at the World Championships in Shanghai last July: “Of course it was disappointing,” explained Banks, “but I think it was a combination of circumstances, including missing a block of training earlier the year, and in hindsight she possibly could have given more in her 1,500 metre heat, to make the final, and that might have changed everything.

“But right now she’s training at altitude in Nevada, where she needs to be, and since mid-August has been very focused on the job.”

Ireland may have a good tradition of qualifying Olympic rowing crews yet Martin McElroy, performance director with Rowing Ireland, was frank in his assessment of where the sport currently is, particularly at Olympic level: his focus is on three crews – the men’s lightweight double scull, the women’s lightweight double scull, and the women’s open double scull – but admitted “the reality is we’re no better than a 50-50 chance of qualifying a crew”.

There are currently only two spots in each of those categories still available, and they will be decided at the Lucerne Regatta next May. “What’s happening is we’re missing a generation of athletes,” said McElroy. “I could guess why that is, although it was before my time. But what has happened in rowing is the budgeting is usually year on year, and so the senior crews get the spotlight, and the danger with that is you lose sight of the under-23s, who need to serve their apprentice.

“Right now none of our rowers are at their peak age of 28, 29. If you look at Beijing the average age of the medallists was 29, and the oldest was 38. Half of the rowers in the Irish squad are actually under age 23, but this is the stage we need to start developing their careers as rowers, before they go elsewhere, and that’s a hell of a challenge.”

The big rowing success of 2011 was Holly Nixen, who in August won silver at the World Junior Championships – Ireland’s first medal in the junior grade in 40 years. A native of Portora, in Enniskillen, Nixen is actually qualified to row for both Ireland and Britain, and has still to make that key decision when it comes to her senior career.

Ultimately the only talk of Olympic medals was in sailing, when James O’Callaghan, performance director with the Irish Sailing Association, declared: “Our 2012 goal is to have an Irish team stand on the podium in London,” – and that’s certainly a possibility.

Peter O’Leary and David Burrows finished fourth in the Star class at the London Olympic test event in Weymouth in August, and Annalise Murphy, in the Radial class, finished sixth. Matt McGovern and Ryan Seaton are also targeting a qualifying spot in the 49er Skiff, and all three boats are looking to the World Championships in Perth, where 75 per cent of qualification allocations for London will be filled.