Coach Oerjan Madsen has thrown German swimmers a lifeline, but officials aren't holding their breath about the country making it back inside the top five at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Britta Steffan,the 100m freestlye world record holder,sees her comeback marred by unfounded rumors of doping.

It ranked sixth in medals at the Athens Games, its worst overall finish since West Germany ended 8th at Mexico City in 1968, when East and West competed separately for the first time. Since reunification in 1990 the country never finished lower than fifth - until Athens.

"A turnaround before 2008 is not realistic," Thomas Bach, president of the German Sports Confederation (DOSB), was quoted as saying by a spokesman. Newly implemented elite sports programs will not have an impact until 2012, he said.

The German National Olympic Committee has not ruled the possibility out though, buoyed by the nation's recent success and new prospects in water sports like swimming, canoeing and rowing, its traditional strongholds.

"Based on the Athens results and actual developments, there is a corridor for the German team to aim at between 4th and 9th place (in Beijing)," Michael Schirp, a German NOC spokesman, told China Daily.

"Swimming, which used to be very strong, is slowly coming up again, because the team has taken radical measures, dismissing the head coach and installing a new guy, Madsen, who has an international reputation.

"He (Oerjan Madsen) has somehow managed to produce a mini-turnaround," said Schirp, "especially if you look at the results of the European championships and the attitude of the athletes."

Madsen, a Finn, coached Germany's swimmers through a successful campaign at the European championships last summer that saw them break three world records in the first five days of competition. They face another test later this month at the world championships in Australia.

In Athens, the squad showed themselves bronze-medal material for the second successive Olympiad. Only the men's 4 x 100-meter medley relay team managed a silver, a color that eluded them in Sydney four years earlier.

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