There were reassuring signs for Irish Olympian Nick O'Hare in Zurich and Hamburg at the weekend. The Dubliner, who is the only Irish swimmer currently in full-time training, recorded his best early-season 100 metres short course time of 51.9 seconds while winning the B final at the Uster meet.

Dirk Lange, his Hamburg-based coach, was impressed. "I thought it would merit a day off yesterday, but Dirk considered that I wasn't sufficiently tired to take a break. He didn't expect me to swim that fast. I am a little tired from all the work I had been doing but I am not as tired as he expected me to be," said O'Hare.

The quality of opposition in Uster was high. Mark Veens, ranked number two in the world, won the 50 metres, four places ahead of the Irish champion.

O'Hare is targeting the Leisureland international meet in Salthill on FEBRUARY 26th, 27th and 28th and is resisting any other offers to compete before then.

"I am responding well to training, my recovery rate is faster. I will really train hard for the next two weeks and then concentrate on sprint-specific preparation to be ready for Leisureland," said O'Hare.

O'Hare will get his first opportunity to qualify for the European Championships, which are fixed for Istanbul from July 23rd to August 1st, a week after Leisureland in Luveck, which is about 40 kilometres from his Hamburg base. "I will be shaved and tapered for Salthill and I will be able to maintain that condition for about another week. It would be ideal to get the qualifying mark out of the way so early."

The Welsh nationals during the first week of July will be the last opportunity for European qualification, with the closing date for entries fixed for July 11th. Younger aspirants have their sights set on the European Junior Championships in Budapest from August 5th to 8th.