WATERFORD'S Susan Smiths set a new Irish 400 metre hurdle, record of 56.49 seconds when[winning the event at the Weatabix International meeting in Stellenbosch, South Africa last night. This mark is inside the B standard for next July's Olympics' and it is the second time in as many weeks that the 24 year old has achieved the standard.

The old record of 56.51 seconds had stood to the credit of Mary Appleby Barnwell since 1980 and Smith's run is the closest any athlete has got to the mark since Barnwell set it.

At the same meeting, Aisling Molloy of Dun drum South Dublin, who has been in South Africa since last November, finished second in the 1,500 metres in a time of four minutes 15.62 seconds.