Swimming: Baker left to rue rules

Two prominent figures will be missing from today's line up at the National Short Course Championships in Cambridge, which will be the sole opportunity for Britain's swimmers to qualify for the European Championships later this year.

The selection policy devised by performance director Bill Sweetenham allows swimmers to qualify only in Olympic events, which rules out the Commonwealth champion and world record holder Zoe Baker.

The 50 metres breaststroke, Baker's specialist event, has not yet been admitted into the Olympics despite being included in all other major competitions. The sprinter has reached an agreement with Sweetenham where he will allow her to compete in the World Cup series instead of the European Championships in Germany in December.

The absence also of the British record holder Nicola Jackson in Cambridge will cast further doubts over her future following her failure to qualify for last month's Commonwealth Games. A swift return to the international scene looked imminent when she took three titles at the national championships in June. But she is missing from the entry list, making her unavailable for the European Championships.

Jackson has a medical condition whereby carbohydrates cannot be converted into energy. If her intentions to rejoin the national team are real, this would be the second time this year that the 18-year-old has fallen foul of Britain's robust one-chance selection policies.