Against the tide

LET’S START in Ger Doyle’s office. Busy place, even with the phone off the hook. The mobile still rings and there are Leinster Open Championships coming up, piles of paperwork sitting across the desk, the OCI want to organise a meeting this weekend, change the dates of a planned trip to Athens, more headaches and there are still kids to be coached in New Ross, still seconds to be clipped off times.

Or let's start with some bad news. A day before, the Sports Council suspended Swim Ireland's funding because they have yet to elect a chief executive officer, or the CEO was elected at a void meeting or some bureaucratic mess-up. Under Sports Council rules, all governing bodies need a CEO. You don't need to tell the national swimming coach what suspended funding means. Athletes with Athens dreams are in a sort of limbo. Of course, if you are an Irish swimmer, limbo is a familiar place. Most have been there at some point.

Occasionally, you cast your mind back over a decade and wonder when will Irish swimming get a break. The Europeans were a pre-Christmas treat in Abbotstown; Andrew Bree put a smile on every face and there were hushed utterances of a new era. Now, well, each time the sports gets up, brushes itself down and starts moving again, there is somebody tugging at the rug under their feet. Doyle smiles wistfully. He has enough perspective to know part of life's job spec is putting obstacles in the way and he knows better than most how to surmount them.