Melanie Nocher missed out on another opportunity to qualify for the London 2012 Games last night. She finished fourth in the guest final of the women’s 200 backstroke at the British Trials which are taking place at the Olympic venue.

It was only a four-hundredths of a second gap, but it was enough for Karl Burdis to qualify for May’s European Championships in Hungary last night.

Although Olympic qualification was an unlikely prospect during the second night of Irish Long-Course Championship finals, there were other prospects.

TWO-TIME Olympian Andrew Bree leads the Irish squad at the European Long Course Swimming Championships in Budapest, which commences today.

Swimming sensation Grainne Murphy has won her second gold medal and third medal overall of the European Junior Swimming Championships in Prague this evening.

A HIGH Court judge yesterday rejected a request by a victim of statutory rape to adjourn applications by sex offenders to be released until new laws were brought in.

THE High Court has postponed hearing an application made by a notorious sex offender seeking his release from prison as a result of last week’s controversial Supreme Court ruling, which struck down the offence of statutory rape.

Irish swimmers made waves at the European Junior Longcourse Championships in Budapest today as two national records were smashed.

SWIMMING’S Long Course Championships came to a close yesterday on a high note, with 13 swimmers achieving international qualifying times, four new Irish senior records and two new Irish junior records to round off a very successful weekend.