MICHELLE SMITH was undoubtedly the star of the show when she returned to competition for the first time since Atlanta 96 at the Girondins de Bordeaux Grand Prix yesterday. And, while there was not gold medal on offer, the Dubliner despite her lack of fitness demonstrated her competitive instincts by winning the SO metres freestyle final in the meet.

The three times Olympic gold's medalist was welcomed by a special announcement as she took the blocks for the heat of the 50 metres freestyle, the opening event of the meet, and there was similar recognition from the public address announcer when she returned for last night's final.

In many ways, it was a relaxed, and low key return to competition, for Smith, although some of France's, best swimmers, along with competitors from a number of European countries, were taking part.

Smith won last night's final with a time of 27.29 seconds with Echirolles Chouipe one tenth of a second behind in second place.

Bordeaux, however, was a world away from Atlanta, where Smith produced her heroics in front of sellout crowds in the Georgia TechAquatic Centre. The small arena here was half empty, and the sparse attendance comprised mainly young swimmers and their families. Indeed, it appeared that the most trying thing Smith despite her win had to deal with on her comeback was a queue of young autograph seekers.

Just over five months ago, Smith was confronted by the world's media as she made history in Atlanta. Yesterday, a solitary photographer from Reuters news agency kept a polite distance and a regional television crew were only interested in knowing if the Dubliner enjoyed swimming in Bordeaux.

"For me, this is just, a bit of fun," insisted, a relaxed Smith, whose last competitive race prior to the Christmas meet in the wine capital of (France was actually her bronze medal performance in the 200 metres butterfly final at Atlanta 96.

That race brought her haul in the summer Olympics to three golds and a bronze, the biggest individual haul of the Games.

Before yesterday's races, however, Smith had the usual look of concentration and determination on (face. Being an Olympic champion does bring certain pressures. She hardly noticed when a little girl with a disposable camera rushed up to taken her picture.

To the disappointment of the youngsters watching, however, her first performance wasn't spectacular. Smith finished third in her heat behind two French women with a time of 27.59. Neither of the French swimmers, Perrine Lerhun (27.28), or Chouipe, (27.46), are ranked in the top 10 in the event in, (France. In the final itself, however Smith upstaged everyone to confirm herself as the class act in the field.

But such details didn't concern Smith, who opted for the shorter distance due to her lack of training in, recent months. "The 50 metres freestyle is not my best event. It's nice to, be back, but, I've just recently resumed training. This has been the first week I've been training twice a day, so I can't expect too much from myself yet, she said.

It has only been in the last three weeks that I've really started training, again, so I can't expect to do the times I would like it will take a couple of months to get my fitness" back to the desired level."

Smith only returned to her base in Holland in the last month up on till then, she was busy with the business of being an Olympic champion in Ireland where the hype, she admits, has not abated.

"No matter where you go, people want to congratulate you and shake, it's only then that you fully realise the effect the performances in Atlanta had on people in Ireland" said Smith.

But now Smith is seriously back to work. The queen of Irish swimming competes in the 200 metres medley in Bordeaux today and then flies out to the Caribbean tonight for a competition in Reunion next weekend on, December 28th and 29th which means Smith will be spending most of Christmas Day on a plane crossing the Atlantic.

The Rathcoole swimmer is setting sights on the World Championships which take place in Austrailian January 1998. Although she has yet to finalise her plans for the coming year, Smith reckons she will probably not take part in the European championships scheduled fort Seville next August and, instead, will focus all her energies towards the world championship.

Although she is some way off the sort of sort of shape she attained in, America last summer, the organisers oft the Bordeaux meet were nonetheless delighted to have a celebrity like". Smith in the event. "I decided to swim here because one of the organisers is a friend and I accepted the invitation in March. I didn't want to go back on my word," she said.

Her victory in the 50 metres finale added lustre to the meet and the, heroine of the Atlanta pool gave the Bordeaux event a certain prestige for the first time in 22 years, a journalist from L'Equipe, the French daily sports newspaper, came to cover the meet. The reason? Smith's presence in the gala. And no other reason.

The Irish swimmer's charm was also very much in evidence. Before, leaving for her hotel with husband and coach, Eric de Bruin, Smith revealed to one of the meet organisers that his birthday present to her last year was 24 bottles of Bordeaux a bottle of champagne would have been appropriate last, night to celebrate a winning return to the competitive arena.