Michelle De Bruin's appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has again been deferred, probably until May. De Bruin is fighting a four-year ban imposed by the governing body of swimming, FINA, after she was found guilty of tampering with a urine sample last year at her home in Kilkenny.

The hearing had originally been mooted for February 5th in Lausanne, Switzerland, but a number of issues arose with which de Bruin's solicitors, Lennon Heather and Co, were unhappy about, including matters of discovery and procedure.

In a press release issued yesterday de Bruin's solicitors stated: "By agreement of the parties and the Court of Arbitration in Lausanne, the proposed hearing date for Michelle Smith de Bruin's appeal for the 5th February has been deferred.

The statement goes on to explain that de Bruin has been requested to lodge submissions for "discovery" and that she is filing an application for a preliminary hearing. The statement ends: "It would appear that the appeal is therefore unlikely to be heard in the immediate future and the parties are attempting to agree upon a number of dates which have been proposed by the Court for the hearing of the matter in April and May next."