Preparing for European and Olympic Games will never be the same again for Irish swimmers after negotiations, which it is anticipated will take place this week, between Swim Ireland and the management at West Wood Healthclub, Clontarf. The north Dublin club's unique 50-metre facility is set to change the traditional working habits of Ireland's top competitors. Those arduous trips to Britain and beyond for long-course training prior to major competition will be a thing of the past if some format for top-level training at the new venue, which provides six 50-metre lanes, is agreed.
Swimmers on the probable shortlist for the Olympics have expressed natural interest in the facility which, while unsuitable for international competition because there is no accommodation for spectators and two of a total of eight lanes are short of the standard long-course distance, is a boon for their training requirements.
Ireland's national swim coach, Ger Doyle, was a guest at the official opening of the facility at the weekend and welcomes the unique opportunity the longcourse lanes can provide for his squad members.
Weekend training for the exam-tied members of the Irish squad would be ideal and those also poised to benefit greatly are Ireland's three full-time swimmers, Chantal Gibney, Nick O'Hare and Graham Beegan.
Beegan is based in Dublin and can compound his current form, as shown by an "A" final appearance in France recently. The talented Cormorant swimmer, together with his national team-mates, has been patiently waiting for such a long-course facility at home.
Initial signs of the benefits to be derived from the West Wood facility could surface over the next few weeks as the final date for the submission of times for the senior and junior European championships is fixed for May 31st. Matters relating to finance and the distribution of training hours - which could cost an outside club from between £30 to £35 per lane per hour - will be of the essence in this week's talks.
A clearer picture is also expected to emerge at the weekend's high performance committee meeting as to the likely composition of the Ireland teams for the upcoming European events in Helsinki, Finland (senior) and Dunkirk, France (junior).
The former world 100 and 200 metres breaststroke champion Samantha Riley left hospital and returned to the pool yesterday, saying the pressure was on her Australian rivals to beat her for a place in the national team for the Sydney Olympics.
Riley, 27, spent five days in hospital because of a kidney infection. She said she felt 80 per cent fit and wasted no time getting back in the water in Cairns, north Queensland, resuming light training in preparation for the Australian Olympic trials which start in Sydney on Saturday.
