Journos and all swimming with the tide of good news

It's a beautiful day here in Paris, a marked contrast to Friday and Saturday last when the rain was unforgiving. And there definitely was a sense that all is well in the world for the Irish contingent after the morning session in the pool.

Ellen Walshe and Daniel Wiffen are through to their respective finals, while Danielle Hill has a semi-final to look forward to. Their progression forward played at a La Defense Arena that didn't quite have the high-voltage atmosphere that was in evidence on Sunday. Morning sessions, with heats and semis, don't quite have that same adrenaline-rush.

In the press room, Irish scribes were in contented mood as they pieced together their thoughts on three Team Ireland competitors progressing within a short period of each other. All told, there are 6,000 media professionals at the Paris Games, all of them hoping to report on good news stories. And for the Irish journos, there is much to ponder with a trio of finalists in the pool.

There's a cautious optimism around Mona McSharry, in that if can she deliver that littler bit more, a medal could be hers. As for Wiffen, the view amongst those assembled was that he is some sort of express train, heading towards gold. Optimism that is justified on the back of his world titles in February and the ease by which he won this morning.

"But don't rule out Bobby Finke", was the assessment of Swimming Ireland's press officer Trish Mayon, still believing that the reigning Olympic champion despite being over a second slower than Wiffen in his heat, still has something left in the tank. Finke's time in the heat was five seconds slower than his best.

So finals are a different ball game then? Maybe not, if you're Daniel Wiffen. He thinks the stars are aligning. The