Norway: The Bergen swim meet gets underway next weekend in the Norwegian city, with home stars and Olympic medalists Alex Dale Oen and Sara Nordenstam racing alongside a strong contingent of visitors, including Lotte Friis, Jeanette Ottesen, Rikke Møller Pedersen, Mads Glaesner, Stefan Nystrand and Petter Stymne. Aschwin Wildeboer, of Spain will also make the trip but Cameron Van Der Burgh, will not. A friend of Dale Oen's, the South African was to have travelled to Bergen for the meet but volcanic-ash flight disruption scuppered his plans as airlines try to cope with the backlog of travellers still swelling through airports around the world. For the same reason, the Nordic Congress that was planned this weekend in Reykjavik has been cancelled. Meanwhile, the Norwegian national team leave home in the second week in May for a three-week high-altitude training camp in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Italy: The Biancorosso Trophy this weekend in Busto Arsizio features a number of Italy's top swimmers, including Alessia Filippi, Alessandro Calvi, Mirco Di Tora, Rudy Goldin, Alessandro Terrin e la Ilaria Scarcella.

Sweden: Sarah Sjostrom, world 100m 'fly champion last summer, travelled as far as Italy, for the signing of her contract with Italy, to deliver a message to her host's top swimmer, Federica Pellegrini: I'll be racing alongside you in the 200m free for honours at the European Championships in Budapest. So far this season., Pellegrini, Olympic and world champion, has set the pace at a swift 1:56.23 at Italian nationals this month, with Sjostrom on 1:58.41 at the Swim Cup in Amsterdam last month.