O'Hare looks vulnerable

Ireland's most powerful male swimmer, Nick O'Hare, is putting himself in danger of being left out of the four-strong Irish team to compete at the World Championships in Perth next January. On his own admission, the Olympic sprinter is not focused on attaining a special time that would enhance his chances of selection at next weekend's long-course gala event in Vienna.

O'Hare travels with three other Irish aspirants - Adrian O'Connor, Chantal Gibney and Lee Kelleher - to the Austrian event, where results will decide the remaining two places in the Irish squad for Australia. O'Hare, currently training on his own having split with the Coolmine club, is not prepared to disrupt a special training routine devised for him by Eric de Bruin in order to produce a peak performance at the weekend.

He is banking on doing well enough to qualify and join automatic choice Michelle De Bruin and qualifier Colin Lowth in Perth.

In essence, O'Hare is depending on Kelleher and Gibney failing to hit top form in Vienna. And national coach Ger Doyle, who takes the four aspirants to the Austrian meet, warns that it will be difficult for any of the four swimmers in contention for the two places to strike top form so early in the season.

Both O'Hare and O'Connor were disappointed when they failed to qualify for Perth at the European Championships in Seville last August.

Doyle believes that Kelleher and Gibney could both, conceivably, upset the apple cart for the male challengers at an uncertain stage of preparation. Kelleher, a second away from her mark on butterfly, has already thrown down the gauntlet and with Gibney now even closer to her target on freestyle, O'Hare does seem to be walking a tight rope.

The Irish selectors will finalise their team for Perth immediately after the Vienna meet. Reports from Doyle and team manager Pat Donovan will, therefore, have a decisive bearing on the selectors' deliberations. Neither Michelle de Bruin, nor Colin Lowth have such selection worries.