Irish Amateur Swimming Association the national championship held in 1990 at the Guinness Pool. By the turn of the millennium Ireland still did not have an Olympic-sized pool placing any swimmer training here at an enormous disadvantage at international competition. At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta Michelle Smith became Ireland's first Olympic medalist in swimming - winning three golds and a bronze. A shadow was cast over these medals when subsequently in 1998 she was banned for 4 years from the sport for tampering with a urine sample using alcohol, during a mandatory out of competition test. In the late 1990s various abuse
Irish Champion Stakes Phoenix Park and renamed the Phoenix Champion Stakes in 1984. Its present title was introduced in 1991, when the event returned to Leopardstown after the closure of its former venue. The Irish Champion Stakes became part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series in 2009. The winner now earns an automatic invitation to compete in the same year's Breeders' Cup Turf. The Irish Champion Stakes has become a very useful prep race for the remaining major races in the Autumn schedule such as the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Champion Stakes, Breeders Cup, Hong Kong International Festival and major Group 1