FINA officials were last night unwilling to comment on suggestions that they are on the verge of issuing an interim suspension to Irish swimmer Michelle de Bruin, who has been charged with adulterating a urine sample.

Officials from the world swimming body have been meeting in Lausanne for the past two days but claim that they have yet to examine the de Bruin issue in detail.

"The bulk of our time has been spent listening to the reports of our task force on drugs. We have made no progress on a specific case," said FINA general secretary Gunnar Werner.

It has been normal procedure in recent years for swimmers to incur interim suspensions as soon as an adverse report is received from a drug test. De Bruin competed in a club meet outside Paris at the weekend and is scheduled to race in the French National Championships later this month.