D5 using Access 97 mdb with linked ODBC tables - slow performance

Any one know why ...
I have an Access 97 mdb with linked tables that are connected via ODBC using
BDE.
In Access, the performance is alright when opening one of the linked tables.
When my Delphi app accesses via sql or clientdataset componets via BDE, very
slow retrieval.
I had considered using ADO but the express componets don't link linked
tables via ODBC and it is very slow.

Any help would be appretiated.

Victor