Relay squad in the reckoning

Swimming: In the wake of the European championships in Helsinki, the focus centres on the possibility of an Irish women's relay team being named for the Sydney Olympics.

Chantal Gibney and Emma Robinson are two members of the 4 x 100 freestyle and 4 x 100 medley squads who have earned the right to be considered as individual entries but contributions by Julie Douglas, Lee Kelleher and Louise Robinson (a twin sister of Emma) to the relay squad, merit consideration for inclusion in any Swim Ireland submission to the Olympic Council of Ireland.

The medley team of Douglas, Louise Robinson, Kelleher and Gibney clearly consolidated its position, following the success of the record-lowering freestyle team when finishing only three places adrift of the European final. This perhaps represents a more substantial claim for selection than most other relevant individual performances.

It remains to be seen, however, how the OCI will view Emma Robinson's impressive feat in qualifying for the 50 metres breaststroke final even though that event is not included in the Olympic programme. The defining feature at the Scottish Open in Glasgow was the clean sweep on breaststroke by Andrew Bree, Michael Williamson and Mark Craig. Olympian Nick O'Hare finished second in the 100 metres freestyle on 52.33.

Tennis: Ireland's non-playing captain Peter Wright will tomorrow decide on his team to take on Goran Ivanisevic's Croatia in the Davis Cup (Euro African, Group II) tie at Fitzwilliam starting on Friday.

With John Doran injured and Sean Cooper and David Mullins having returned to the US to continue studies, trials for the fourth place in the team were staged over the weekend involving Conor Niland, Stephen Nugent and George McGill, with Niland emerging unbeaten. He accounted for Nugent 7-5, 6-4 and McGill by 6-3, 7-6.

Motorsport: Tomas Scheckter, the son of 1979 world champion Jody, has moved a step closer to a Formula One career. The 19-year-old South African has signed to race for the Formula 3000 outfit run by McLaren Mercedes in the remaining four rounds of the championship, beginning in Austria this weekend.