Michelle Smith De Bruin has decided not to race in what would have been her fourth event of the European Championships in Seville. With two golds and one silver medal winner already won, Smith de Bruin cited tiredness as the reason for pulling out of today's race, the 200 metres individual medley.
"I felt tired coming out of the water after the 400 metres freestyle. My knees and legs were very shaky and I thought I had better pull out and take an extra day's rest.
"I didn't feel it was a mistake to race in the 200 freestyle. I got the gold medal. Here my race programme has been different. In the past I've raced and rested, raced and rested, while here I raced three in a row and found it very demanding.
"I've decided not to compete in the 200 medley event, even though I feel that I might win a medal. If I raced today I was bound to be tired for Sunday and I'd rather have one good race than two moderate races. By resting I feel I've a better chance of gold on Sunday."
All of Smith de Bruin's energies will now focus on the final event, the 200 metres butterfly, as she bids to capture her third goal of the championships.
In addition to Smith de Bruin, five other Irish swimmers are in action this weekend. Nick O'Hare goes in his favoured 50 metres freestyle event. Hugh O'Connor and brother Adrian will again swim in the same event, this time the 100 metres backstroke, while Paul McCarthy goes in the 200 metres butterfly. He is joined in that event by Colin Lowth.
There were no individual Irish swimmers in action yesterday, with just the Irish relay team involved in the 4x100m relay freestyle event. Hugh O'Connor, Michael Giles, Adrian O'Connor and Nick O'Hare finished 10th in their heat in 3:30.12. Although they did not advance, they broke the Irish record by 4.66 seconds.
According to Ger Doyle, the current Irish coach, Erik de Bruin will be paid by the Leinster Branch in September or October to take training sessions with the Leinster swimming squad. It will be a commercial arrangement between the two parties.
"This is a commercial thing as far as I know," said Doyle. "They will bring some of the Leinster swimmers together and will work with them, give them ideas, plans or schedules, or maybe influence their training programme. The Leinster Branch will nominate the swimmers."
It is the first such arrangement of this type between de Bruin and an Irish squad.
In Dublin, meanwhile, Smith's sponsors, TNT Express, have said that they will be holding a reception for the swimmer at Dublin airport on Monday at 11.30 p.m. when she is scheduled to arrive back from Seville.
The Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Dr Jim McDaid, who had declined to organise such a event himself on the basis that he believed athletes felt that such occasions were hijacked by politicians, said yesterday on RTE Radio that he was "delighted" to have received an invitation from TNT to attend a reception for Smith to be held at their headquarters beside the airport on Monday. He also added that he would be attend.
