Swim tickets like gold

The Georgia Tech Aquatic Centre where Irish hopes of a first day swimming medal will rest on Michelle Smith's shoulders on Saturday night is a strange enough type of structure, nether fully enclosed nor entirely open air.

A ceiling, the sort you would expect to see in an aircraft hangar, stretches across from one stand to another to block out the Atlanta sun and, with the broadcast, print media and officials ensconced at one side, whatever atmosphere is created during the heat of competition will be provided by the supporters, seated on wooden benches on the far side who have managed to secure precious tickets.

With asthma sufferer Tom Dolan, who has a lucrative endorsement with Nike, another deal pending with a health company called Breathe Rite, and a $50,000 per gold medal incentive from the United States Swimming Association, one of the anticipated American stars of these Olympic games, those, pool side tickets are like gold dust.

Yesterday, however, there was scant evidence of such likely heroic deeds whether they be performed in a few days time by an American with an Irish name, or an Irish woman married to a Dutch man. Instead, the Japanese synchronised swim team all smiles, white teeth and flailing legs went through their paces to the beat of Asian rock music watched by their coach, some ACOG officials, a TV camera crew from back home and a couple of intrigued Irish journalists.

And, some 10 yards away, a number of the Chinese divers, apparently the holiest favourites of all to secure pieces of gold in the pool, fine tuned their diving routines off the high board. Only the divers themselves know who will actually compete when the official deadline for entries expired on July 5th, China submitted 12 names although only two athletes can compete in each of the four events.

Into the bargain, the Chinese Government has pledged that all its swimmers are drug free. China was accused of running a systematic doping programme when its swimmers and track athletes began hauling in gold medals earlier this decade. These suspicions were confirmed in 1994 when 11 Chinese swimmers failed drug tests at the Asian games.

There are 772 swimmers from 69 countries competing in Atlanta, and five of them are Irish Smith, Marion Madine, Earl McCarthy, Nick O'Hare and Adrian O'Connor. Four of them availed of the "open period" to swim in the pool yesterday, the exception being medal hopeful Smith.

Smith has been based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in recent weeks and is not expected to actually swim in the Olympic pool until possibly tomorrow, a mere 48 hours before she attempts to become just the fifth Irish sports person to win an Olympic gold medal.

Thirty three swimmers are entered in the women's 400 metres individual medley, the event which marks Smith's competitive debut in this centennial Olympic Games on Saturday. The Dubliner is ranked of the competitors, Egerszegi, Chinese pair Yang Chen and Yanyan Wu and American Alison Wagner.

As emphasised by her recent 400 metre freestyle swim, however, which was the fastest over the distance in four years, Smith fears nobody and the low key approach adopted by the Dubliner could yet yield its own precious award.