Australia: a 48-strong school of Dolphins will defend Aussie honour in the race pool between October 3 and 14 at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi after trials last week.

The School:

Men: Daniel Arnamnart, Leith Brodie, Craig Calder, Ashley Callus, Nicholas D’Arcy, Ashley Delaney, Tommaso D’Orsogna, Nicholas Frost, Thomas Fraser-Holmes, Jayden Hadler, Geoff Huegill, Robert Hurley, Andrew Lauterstein, Ryan Napoleon, Cameron Prosser, Brenton Rickard, Christian Sprenger, Hayden Stoeckel, Eamon Sullivan, Christopher Wright, Peter Leek, Matthew Cowdrey, Ben Austin, Blake Cochrane and Andrew Pasterfield.

Women: Bronte Barratt, Alicia Coutts, Sophie Edington, Blair Evans, Felicity Galvez, Katie Goldman, Marieke Guehrer, Melissa Gorman, Samantha Hamill, Belinda Hocking, Leisel Jones, Sarah Katsoulis, Yolane Kukla, Samantha Marshall, Alice Mills, Meagen Nay, Kylie Palmer, Leiston Pickett, Stephanie Rice, Jessicah Schipper, Emily Seebohm, Ellie Cole and Annabelle Williams.

France: After clocking times of 22.71, 49.74 and 1:51.71 at a meet in Paris over the weekend, Alain Bernard, Olympic 100m free champion told the French media: "I'm pleased. This shows that the foundation is there. I lack sharpness and explosiveness. The 200 time is nothing special but I don't race it very often. I'm happy with where I am." He will race this week at the Amsterdam Swim Cup before the French Championships at Saints-Raphaels (April 13-19), which serve as selection trials for the European Championships in Budapest (August 9-15). Bernard's coach Denis Auguin talked to the French media about the long-term plan for his fast charge, with 2010 a transition year on the way to the defence of the Olympic crown in London 2012.

Italy: Italian swimmers continued to test themselves in early 2010 competition at the Civitavecchia long-course meet, where Alessia Filippi suffered a rare domestic defeat in the 200m backstroke, the race going to Federica Sorriso, who lived up to her name and was to be found smiling on 2:15.00 to 2:18.08 to her better-known rival. On 100m free and fly, Benatti clocked 51.38 and 54.65 respectively; the 100m and 200m backstroke finals went to former European junior champ Damiano Lestingi in 56.18 and 2:00.98; Paolo Bossini won the 200m breaststroke in 2:18.17 ahead of Eduardo Giorgetti, on 2:18.25. Among women, the 50km backstroke saw Gemo win in 30.36, the 50 and 100m breaststroke were claimed by Plos in 32.95 and 1:11.83, and Di Pietro took the 50 and 100m 'fly in 27.32 and 1:01.01.

FINA Fancied: the official magazine of the international federation asked a panel of experts to vote on the best swimmers of the decade and the choice matched that at the helm of the SwimNews Top 100: Michael Phelps (USA) and Inge de Bruijn (NED).

Suit Wars: Judge James V. Selna, hearing the case of TYR Vs Speedo, USA Swimming, Mark Schubert and Erik Vendt has awarded the swimmer a summary judgment as the defendant in a breach of contract case. The ruling went the way it did in part because as a USA swimmer, Vendt, to the credit of USA Swimming, is allowed to wearing any brand of suit he wants; and because Vendt wearing a non-TYR brand did not, apparently, constitute a breach of contract. The ruling is final, according to reports in the US, while Vendt is counter-claiming against TYR in a case yet to be heard.