At 2pm local time on Monday last, 52 hours after entering the water and after four previous failed attempts over the previous 35 years, 64-year-old Diana Nyad emerged from the ocean in Florida Keys and thus became the first person to swim the 110 miles from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage.

Your team has just been beaten in the provincial championship and you’re heading out the back-door and into the jungle of the All-Ireland qualifiers.

We all know how nervous players can get before big games.

Hundreds of mourners yesterday turned out to celebrate the life of hurling great, Jimmy Smyth in his home Clare village of Ruan.

DAVY FITZGERALD wasratified by the Clare County Board as the county’s senior hurling manager last night, with the former goalkeeper unveiling Louis Mulqueen and Mike Deegan as his selectors.

Ger 'Sparrow' O'Loughlin has resigned as Clare senior hurling manager, following a two-year spell in charge.

THERE has been plenty of talk about managers from the top people in the GAA for the last number of months, and for all the wrong reasons.

THERE was frost on the ground in Clare yesterday morning, a genuine feel of Christmas in the air as Ger O’Loughlin headed off to his day job as Director of Sales with the Burke Shipping Group.

CLARE’S All-Ireland U-21 winning manager John Minogue claims some of the gloss has been taken off a landmark season because of the bitter dispute that led to Mike McNamara’s resignation as senior boss.

DUBLIN senior hurling manager Anthony Daly has hailed the imminent appointment of Ger ‘Sparrow’ O’Loughlin in his native Clare.

Tony Considine (TC): “You two have both been involved with Clare teams at various levels over the years, how does this team compare with those?”

MIKE McNAMARA remains in situ as Clare senior hurling manager following last night’s lengthy meeting with his players – but sources within the Banner County expect McNamara to walk away in the next day or two.

CLARE hurling legend Ger ‘Sparrow’ O’Loughlin has distanced himself from reports linking him to the management of his native county.

THE FIRST thing to say was how fantastic to see Plan B going up in lights at Croke Park again yesterday.

LONG before Joe Canning, John Fenton and other hurling artists acquired cult status for their skill in taking line balls, a certain Michael Moroney from Crusheen was an expert at it.

THERE have been three outstanding hurling games this year.

LATE in 2006, when they came together for the first time, the Clare U21 hurling management would have had the obvious ambition of bringing a first ever Munster title to the county.

JOHN F Kennedy produced a line for the ages in his inauguration speech as US President when he told his audience to “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

YOU can take it that other than being taken off in a major game, either at provincial level or in the All-Ireland series, the worst thing that can happen to any player is not to be selected in the first place.

Former captain Anthony Daly's tenure as Clare senior hurling manager was officially extended at last night's county board meeting in Ennis.

THERE is much talk this week of the last NHL Final meeting of Kilkenny and Clare in 1995 and how the Banner went on to win the All-Ireland championship, their first in over eight decades.

Two-time All-Ireland winning captain Anthony Daly was last night ratified for another year's term as manager of the Clare hurling team.

CLARE’S stunning performance against All-Ireland SHC champions Kilkenny was not alone a huge boost for Banner hurling but especially for manager Anthony Daly according to his predecessor Cyril Lyons.

2002 Allstars 11-20 2003 Allstars 13-10

DAVY FITZGERALD and Noel Hickey will captain the respective 2002 and 2003 Vodafone GAA Allstar teams in this afternoon’s exhibition match in Phoenix.

THE Limerick stars at the centre of the dual player controversy may be left to decide on their preferred code for 2004.

Clare hurling is celebrating the return of David Forde to the county setup after almost a year's absence.

SEMPLE Stadium in Thurles is the probable venue for next months’s AIB All-Ireland club semi-finals involving the Munster and Leinster champions.

CHRISTMAS came early for nine inter-county hurlers yesterday, with call-ups for next month’s All-Star tour to Arizona.

Organisers of the upcoming AllStar tour of America have drafted in a lengthy list of replacements with a host of Kilkenny players dropping out of the original panel.

New Clare hurling boss Anthony Daly has been urged to leave no stone unturned and be "totally ruthless" if he wants to get the Banner back on track.

The GAA has confirmed that Cyril Lyons and Brian Cody will take charge of the upcoming hurling AllStars trip to America in January.

CYRIL LYONS and Brian Cody will manage the 2002 and 2003 Vodafone Hurling Allstar teams scheduled to travel to Phoenix, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada next January.

ANTHONY DALY is relishing his appointment as manager of the Clare senior hurlers. However, Daly, who celebrated his 34th birthday last week, is under no illusions about the mammoth task he has undertaken along with Fr. Harry Bohan, and Alan Cunningham.

ANTHONY DALY, the man who captained Clare to two exhilarating All-Ireland senior hurling championships, was last night appointed manager of the Banner county for the coming season.

PÁIDI Ó SÉ was last night ratified as manager of the Westmeath senior footballers at a meeting of the county football board in Cusack Park, Mullingar.

THE GAA at national level needs to take notice of the growing pressure on inter-county managers to deliver instant success, Clare GAA chairman Fr Michael McNamara said yesterday.

FORMER All-Ireland winning captains Anthony Daly and Páidi Ó Sé are set to be named managers of Clare and Westmeath respectively this week while Birr’s Pa Joe Whelehan is to take the Limerick hurling hot seat.

SEAN BOYLAN’S position as Meath manager was strengthened last night when he received a vote of confidence from the county board.

WITH the hurling managerial positions still to be filled in Limerick, Clare and Tipperary, speculation is rife about the successors to Dave Keane, Cyril Lyons and Michael Doyle.

WITH the management of their hurling teams in turmoil, a course in crisis management would appear to be a priority for the County Boards of Limerick, Clare and Tipperary.

CLARE County Board aim to appoint a successor to senior hurling manager Cyril Lyons within a month.

Cyril Lyons has stepped down as Clare's hurling manager.