Swimming: Andrew Bree won the 200 metres breast-stroke final at the British Winter Championships in Sheffield yesterday, setting an Irish junior record in the process.
He was the fastest qualifier (2:20.3), establishing all three Irish junior breastroke records - 50m, 100m and 200m, during the championships.
Bree was pressed in the early stages of the final by Ian Edmunds of Scotland but with British number one Adam Whitehead missing because of flu, the Irishman took control at halfway. He surged clear to win by two seconds in 2:19.42.
It was a highly encouraging day for Swim Ireland as Lee Kelleher of Cork took silver in the women's 100 metres butterfly. With a personal best time of 1:01.60, she chased home British record-breaker Margareta Pedder of Portsmouth, who won in 1:01.17.
Athletics: Catherina McKiernan was reasonably satisfied after finishing fifth in her first cross-country race in more than two years in Belgium yesterday.
Running in an IAAF Grand Prix event over 6,000 metres in Brussels, an event she won on two occasions in the past, McKiernan was 29 seconds off the pace as Kenya's Lydia Cheromie crossed the finish line well ahead of her closest competition in a time of 20 minutes 30 seconds. Chermomie got away from her main rivals midway through the race and then sustained the momentum sufficiently to be almost out of sight as she embarked on the last 1,000 metres. Behind Chermomie, a fascinating struggle was developing with Worku (Ethiopia), Constantin (Romania) and another Kenyan, Mirangal, all looking for important Grand Prix points in the minor placings.
Worku was second in 20 minutes 52 seconds, three seconds ahead of Mirangel and seven clear of McKiernan who, in heavy, holding terrain, couldn't find anything extra in the closing stages. It was McKiernan's first competitive run since finishing 12th in the Chicago marathon in October.
She said she felt reasonably comfortable throughout and was looking forward to substantial improvement in the coming weeks.
She may now race in a couple of cross country races next month, including the international event in Durham which she won in 1997.
Cycling: Tosh Lavery of The Garda Club was the winner of the Hamper race in Carrick-on-Suir yesterday. At the end of the 30 miles, 46-year-old Lavery, a sergeant with the diving unit based at Santry station, was five seconds ahead with John O'Brien second and Sean Kelly third.
The 92 starters were handicapped in five groups with Lavery, O'Brien and Kelly along with 10 others off four minutes behind the first group but they were eight minutes ahead of the scratchmen.
At the end of the first phase of five laps of five miles, Kelly's group had overhauled those in front of them and although the back markers, headed by Ciaran Power, made some progress, they were still over two minutes adrift, so were excluded from the final 10 laps of half a mile in the town.
Only 16 were left to fight it out and Kelly said afterwards he thought he was in with a great chance of his eighth win in the race "but some of the others were going that bit better than me."
With two laps to go, Lavery sprinted ahead for one of the special lap prizes and when he opened the gap, he kept going strongly and neither Kelly nor any of the others could get back up to him.
Lavery pounded away at the front going out on the last lap and was still clear at the end to take the hamper with O'Brien just ahead of Kelly in the sprint to the line.
Cricket: The Hills' off-spinner Matt Dwyer has decided to emerge from representative cricket retirement and has been included in Ireland's 26-man squad for winter training in preparation for next summer.
Dwyer, arguably Ireland's best and most consistent bowler since he was belatedly first capped two seasons ago, surprisingly announced his retirement after the national team's disastrous Triple Crown campaign last summer. All players capped by Ireland last season have been included in the squad.
Other notable players making a come-back to representative cricket are Limavady all-rounder Desmond "Decker" Curry, Lisburn all-rounder Derek Heasley, Old Belvedere pace bowler Owen Butler and Lisburn spinner Neil Doak. Curry and Doak were not available for national selection last season, while injury put Butler and Heasley out of the running.
Ireland will send a 14-man squad to Zimbabwe in April for a six-nation international one-day tournament. Players like Ryan Eagleson, Mark Patterson and Ed Joyce who are contracted to English counties are not likely to be released for that competition, but will be available for national selection for the ICC World Cup qualifying tournament to be staged in Toronto in 2001.
