The first casualty of Minister for Tourism and Sport Dr Jim McDaid's sanctions against the Irish Amateur Swimming Association (IASA) could be Irish 50m free-style holder Nick O'Hare, who makes a decision on his future at the end of the month. Without finance he could be soon forced to consider retirement from the sport.

O'Hare has no money to prepare for the Sydney Olympic games in 2000 and has no income following the termination of his research grant at Dublin City University (DCU), having finished a PhD.

The 26-year-old international sprinter is part of the elite Team 2000, a hand picked group of Irish swimmers who were expected to prepare for and compete in the Sydney games. Last February he broke his own Irish record in the Leisureland meet in Galway; lowering the mark to 22.76 seconds.

Following the suspension of funds by Dr McDaid following allegations made against officials and coaches within the association, almost all trips abroad and grants to swimmers have been frozen.

O'Hare, who has been one of Ireland's top swimmers of the '90s, had previously organised a personal sponsorship deal worth £15,000, which would have funded him for the year. His sponsor then withdrew support when the child sex abuse scandals of Derry O'Rourke and George Gibney, combined with the controversy surrounding triple gold medal winner Michelle de Bruin, became public knowledge.

A urine sample of De Bruin was alleged, by the governing body of swimming, FINA, to have been adulterated with alcohol shortly after O'Rourke was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Currently without a coach O'Hare, who competed in the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta and also swam last summer in the European Championships in Seville, Spain, will be able to travel to the forthcoming British Championships only because a donation of £300 has been given to him privately. He had also hoped to train in Phoenix, US for the two years build up to Sydney.

The swimmer maintains that no one from the IASA, the Irish Sports Council or the Government has been in contact with the swimmers to advise or explain what is happening within the sport. They have not yet filled out grant application forms from the Department of Education when other top athletes such as 1,500m runner Niall Bruton and canoeist Gary Maher have sent back their applications.

Last year he received a £3,000 grant, his first ever, and relied on between £6000-£8,000 from the IASA to fund trips and training camps abroad. His hope was to move to Phoenix, Arizona over the next year or so and work with Pierre La Fontaine, a top coach who has produced Olympic gold medallists in sprint events.

"We haven't been contacted since the Murphy Report. We've gotten no information from anybody. I can't understand why it's a big deal to organise the funding in some other way. If you can organise an inquiry like the one that's just taken place, one I fully agree with, then surely you can organise the relatively simple funding of elite swimmers.

"I totally agree with the minister's approach and I think he could have gone further with a judicial inquiry but now he has created more victims. I'm 26 now. I've no income and I've to train four to five hours a day and sleep in between. It is not possible to do that and work," said O'Hare.

It appears unlikely that any money will be made available until Dr McDaid is satisfied that the IASA has been completely restructured along the lines recommended by the Murphy Report. That will not happen until August at the earliest after a submission is made to the IASA at an extraordinary general meeting at the end of July by a `change management team.'

Even then the minister has to be satisfied that the changes accepted by the IASA and stitched into their constitution are wholesale and effective. Dr McDaid will also continue to be lobbied by the motivated group of parents and victims of O'Rourke and Gibney, who continue to feel outraged by what they see as an organisation which cannot now redeem itself without a complete revision of the personnel involved.

To complicate matters, there are also discussions currently taking place between the victim group and other swimmers concerning the setting up of an alternative swimming association.