Michelle De Bruin's role in the Irish international team is clearly defined in the latest edition of Circular, the official European information source. For the second time this decade, her exploits have elevated Ireland to eighth on the overall classification board following the European Championships.
Ireland are ahead of countries such as Britain and France. Her two gold, a silver and a bronze in Vienna in 1995 and two gold and two silver in Seville pushes her country ahead of France, who picked up 13 medals in Spain, seven of them silver and five bronze.
Only two of Britain's six medals in Seville were gold.
The president of the European swimming association LEN, Bartolo Consolo, expresses the hope that successful nations in Seville will benefit further in discussions with governmental and commercial partners at home.
Unfortunately there has been no evidence of improving circumstances for individual swimmers or the IASA as a whole since De Bruin's latest exploits.
Thanks to her accumulation of 66 points, Ireland were placed 20th on the overall points table for the championships and joint 15th, sharing with Czechoslovakia, in the women's table. Points were distributed from first to 16th place in all events.
The World Championships in Perth from January 12th to 18th will present the Irish champion with another opportunity to impact on the big stage.
Meanwhile, the IASA's calendar of events has just been released. The Leisureland international meet is down for February 27th to March 1st.
The international schools championships are fixed for Scotland on March 14th and 15th and there are World Cup sessions scheduled for Germany and France during March.
The senior interprovincial championships will be held in Dublin on April 25th. The Aer Lingus international gala has been arranged for June 19th to 21st.
The Scottish Open goes on the previous week. Sheffield will stage the British ASA championships from July 9th to 12th, while the Irish Open Championships go ahead in Belfast from July 21st to 25th. The European Junior Championships are fixed for Antwerp (July 30th to August 2nd). The British age groups follow, from August 3rd to 8th in Leeds.
The major age-group championships at home are the interprovincial tests in Connacht (June 6th and 7th), the Division II tests in Dublin (June 26th to 28th) and the Irish age groups at a Munster venue, July 9th to 12th.
