Dubliner Colin Lowth joins Michelle de Bruin as a contender for a place in a possible four-strong Irish team for the eighth World Championships in Perth, starting on January 8th.
Lowth, a regular in all of the selected national squads in recent years, welcomes what will be his biggest assignment so far. Also in the hunt for a place is Lowth's Cormorant team-mate, Graham Beegan.
The two remaining places in the Irish side will probably be filled next month after a pre-championship, long-course meet in Vienna.
If the selectors still have any lingering doubts about the validity of claims for inclusion by certain aspirants, the new format for the British Amateur Swimming Association's winter championships could prove timely. They are fixed for December and will be used as a warm-up for Perth by many leading international stars.
Competition for the remaining places in the Irish squad will be intense. The swimmers in contention for World Championship places from a talented team 2000 are brothers Adrian and Hugh O'Connor of New Ross, Nick O'Hare of Coolmine and his clubmate Michael Giles. Also in with a shout, of course, are Lee Kelleher and Chantal Gibney. An unenviable task, it seems, lies ahead for the IASA selectors.
