Less than 24 hours later they showed rather less cohesion in conceding 90 points to Scotland in their opening

Less than 24 hours later, they showed rather less cohesion in conceding 90 points to Scotland in their opening match in the Halifax Student Rugby League World Cup. That is the quandary when the game goes exotic. On the one hand, the Japanese, snapping pictures of each other like any band of young tourists, are welcomed as colourful newcomers. Defeats in straight sets by Germany and Slovakia left the Britons needing to defeat Israel to be sure of a quarter-final place, but they were narrowly beaten 3-2.. On Friday night, the Japanese student rugby league team delighted spectators at Warrington with their display of synchronised and ceremonial bowing. Giles Long also took gold in the 100m butterfly, but in the S8 category, while Tim Reddish claimed silver in the B2 200m medley. Tetraplegic Kenneth Cairns finished in the silver medal position behind Slovakia's Andrej Zatko in the men's S3 50m butterfly.Zatko, with no arms to speak of and only three feet tall, powered away underwater at the start with Cairns never getting nearer than five metres to the Slovakian, who set another Paralympic record in 1min 11.23sec.Britain's standing volleyball team, made up of amputees, exited the competition on Sunday after losing to Israel.

Bulgarin has been getting pounds 10,000 funding a year, paid by his state, which is bound to have an effect."However, this record has stood since 1984 I really felt that if I could go under it, I would win it. I did, and went under my personal best by five seconds, but when I get him on to the sprint freestyle, that is my territory."Jody Cundy, a below-the-knee amputee, registered a new world record in the S10 100m butterfly with 1min 02.44sec. He said: "The improvement we are seeing in the pool is amazing, but a lot of what we are seeing here symbolises the difference between Britain and the way other nations are pursuing their sport. World records are continuing to tumble with alarming regularity at the Paralympic Games in Atlanta, and nowhere more so than in the pool. Chris Holmes, the partially sighted Cambridge graduate who is a veteran of three Paralympic games and the most successful British competitor in Barcelona in 1992 with six gold medals and one silver in the water, began his campaign in the men's B2 200m medley, finishing second in 2min 23.84sec behind Australia's Kingsley Bulgarin, who recorded 2:22.45.

Both men were inside the old record by almost five seconds. Holmes, although not overly disappointed, believed with better funding he could have improved as dramatically as Bulgarin. Luibeilt returned to its isolated splendour, and to help ensure this the competitors' rucksacks were checked for rubbish at the finish. Anyone not carrying out their litter was disqualified.The winners of the elite class were Mark Seddon and Dan Parker, who covered about 60km in 10hr 31min. But every pair to finish had overcome the weather, the terrain and the cunning of the course planner.Among them was Victoria Skelton, 17 and running a mountain marathon for the first time.

She said: "It was a lot rougher than I expected with more rocks and almost no paths, which made descending much harder than climbing. I'm more used to the Lake District, which has paths everywhere and is far easier." Asked if she would compete again, she hesitated before answering: "Probably...". It will come and go and won't have any impact on the landscape."That was illustrated in the morning when the tented township disappeared, the runners repacked and set off towards the distant outline of Ben Nevis in better weather. The tired competitors simply pitched their tents in the tussocks of marsh grass, lit their stoves and settled down for the night.The tent containing Mel Owen and John Harvey was an unusual shape as Owen had left the tent poles behind, but they survived and won the veterans' prize in the 'C' course.

Other veteran winners were Mary Gillespie, 61, and her husband Alex, who is still active in the local mountain rescue at 62. Among them was Robin Carter, who said: "I'm always so tired before I even start these races."Eddie Speak avoided that problem by flying his light plane to a nearby airfield, and Davie Mack had come by sea from the Hebridean isle of Jura.A note in the gondola reminded travellers the mountain had an Arctic climate, and while most of the United Kingdom suffered a heatwave the mountains around Ben Nevis were cloud covered, windy and wet. A regular mountain marathon runner, he lives in Fort William and said: "I doubt anyone in the town is aware of the race. Instead of factor 25, runners were applying midge repellent, and the only paddling was across the fast flowing rivers and through bogs.Saturday was spent on long climbs to heights over 3,000 feet and picking a way along rock strewn ridges, guided only by the compass. At the end of the day, runners arrived at the campsite at Luibeilt with sodden feet after fording the nearby Abhainn Rath This was not a campsite with the usual facilities.