Bob Tisdall, the former Olympic 400 metres hurdles champion, will be among those monitoring the improving standards of Irish athletics in the finals of the Mazda National Interclub Leagues at Tullamore tomorrow.
Tisdall, a sprightly 90-year-old, is back from Australia for a short holiday, and during the week visited Nenagh, a town with which he has been closely identified over the years.
Appropriately, he returns at a time when interest in Irish hurdling is at its highest point in years, thanks to Susan Smith's achievement in reaching the final of the world 400 metres hurdles championship, an achievement which places her second in the European rankings.
Originally, Smith was scheduled to assist her club, Waterford AC tomorrow. But it now seems unlikely that she can return in time from Monte Carlo where she is due to compete in this evening's grand prix meeting.
The equivalent men's event at Tullamore will feature Tom McGuirk, one of 14 members of Ireland's world championship squad, who will be striving to inspire their clubs to victory. If McGuirk failed to survive the preliminaries in Athens, he may still be in a different class to those opposing him here.
Crusaders, who have assembled their strongest squad in years, hope that Peter Coughlan will be available to represent them in the 110 metres and set up an interesting duel with another of the senior members of DCH's squad, TJ Kearns.
Terry McHugh, another of those who have helped DCH to dominate the championship in recent years, should win the javelin comfortably, while Dundrum South Dublin expect Nick Sweeney to be fit to complete a shot-discus double.
Limerick AC, who defend the first division women's title, will have most of last season's victorious squad available, but are still likely to have to improve further on that performance to hold off the challenges of such as Lisburn, Ballymena and Dundrum South Dublin.
Templemore will be looking to the sprinting prowess of Thomas Coman in their attempt to secure promotion from division two, while Waterford, even without Susan Smith, are favourites in the corresponding women's competition.
