IRELAND'S NATIONAL swim coach, Ger Doyle, is anxious that his association does not react too rigidly to the reality that none of the elite squad swimmers, with the exception of Michelle Smith, has managed to hit target times for the European Championships in Seville next August.

He makes a special plea to the IASA executive committee who will make the ultimate decision on the numerical strength of the side before next weekend's meeting of the national selectors.

New Ross-based Doyle, a great champion of the competitors' needs and a coach of vision who sees immediate events as areas of preparation and "blooding" for the future, is hoping that his swimmers will be afforded a two per cent-plus allowance when the "cut" is made.

The last qualifying opportunities for a half-a-dozen key members of the national squad, including Olympians Adrian O'Connor and Nick O'Hare, were provided in Sheffield during the Grand Prix Super Finals meet at the weekend. Irish performances there were long on medals, but short on times.

Doyle is in favour of the cut-off date. "Otherwise we would end up with them trying to qualify right up to Seville. If, for example, we had given them another month, we would have somebody tapering to qualify and they wouldn't be able to train to actually compete.

"Anybody who did whatever they did up so last Sunday will be considered.

Doyle's approach to the question of the size of teams going abroad is realistic, if not guaranteed to find favour with those holding the purse strings.

"The more we send, the more opportunities we give our competitors to be exposed to that level of competition. This must be our aim with the World Championships in Perth looming."

Doyle argues: "If you widen your base and you send a big group of people to the European Championships and you select from them to go on to the World's, you then have created a base that you follow on with to the Sydney Olympics".

Doyle appreciates the expense involved and how selective the selectors will have to be in finalising a team for Perth.

"I don't know what directive the executive will give to the selectors. My recommendation to the selectors, which I don't really get an opportunity to make, would be that they consider as many people as possible for these European s.

"It would make common sense, funding being available of course, to include both Michael Giles and Paul McCarthy in the team for Seville. This would enable Ireland to be unusually represented, at this level, in the relays.

"McCarthy is the best 100 butterfly man at present and the introduction of Giles would guarantee a worthy breaststroker. It would also add up to an impressive-looking medley team of Adrian O'Connor (backstroke), Giles (breaststroke), McCanthy (butterfly) and Nick O'Hare (freestyle).

In Sheffield, O'Hare (freestyle) Giles (breaststroke) and Hugh O'Connor (backstroke) enhanced the Irish medal take by clinching the gold placings in these strokes over 50 metres. Unfortunately, and unlike the Olympics, there are no 50-metre races listed for Seville.

Doyle is especially pleased to note that the top competitors who have gone closest to the European qualifying times have vindicated their recently-awarded High Performance grants.

Doyle's team for Seville would ideally be; Michelle Smith, Chantal Gibney, Nick O'Hare, Adrian O'Connor, Hugh O'Connor Colin Lowth, Michael Giles, Paul McCarthy. Varying percentage concession would have to be applied before seven of the eight (Smith being the obvious exception) could be guaranteed recognition.