Jefimova starts as the defending European champion and the top seed of the season rankings.

Jefimova has been at college in North America this academic year, at the University of North Carolina. She took the time for a trip back home this week. Although it was a break, there was no let-up in the training. It went ahead early on Saturday morning at Tallinn's Sõle pool.

It also gave the swimmer a chance to reunite with her long-term coach in Estonia, Henry Hein.

"The feeling was very good," Hein said of the training session.

"The athlete swam fast too, so it's always good to be at the poolside. It was very enjoyable to do everyday coaching work again for a change," he added.

"It was nice to talk about how things have been going," Jefimova said of the reunion. "I got some feedback from him. He had not seen me swim for three months. He told me what has changed and what has improved," she added.

Jefimova, 18, tops the European seasonal rankings with a time she swam in mid-October at the FINA Swimming World Cup stages in North America.

Since then, she has raced three times in indoor competitions. While not as many times as Jefimova would have hoped, she was also hampered by a brief period of sickness. She was still satisfied with her preparations.

The training at the Sõle pool included a 100-meter test swim, broken into two 50-meter chunks swum at 50 meters' speed. There was just a 10-second break between circuits, a technique Jefimova said she and Hein had used before. She also took U-23 breaststroke gold over 50 meters in Slovakia in the summer.

Hein remained confident his former student will be able to successfully defend her 100-meter title in Lublin.

"I see no reason why it should be any different. She has been swimming very well on the European short course for the last three years. And I see it that this year is no exception," the coach added.

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