Allan-Burch eyes another event for London Games

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Olympian Roy Allan-Burch has backed himself to qualify for more events as he steps up his training for next year’s London Olympics.

And he’ll have plenty of chances to do just that.

Allan-Burch has already qualified for the 50 metre freestyle, his signature event, and will now look to add to this event before the Games begin in July.

Bermuda’s leading male swimmer was the feature competitor at the inaugural Bermuda Masters Swimming Association’s (BMSA) national championships on Sunday when some 40 locals helped to raise funds for his build-up to the Games.

He will now leave Bermuda on Saturday to step up his preparations for his 2012 race schedule that includes Grand Prix races in the United States as well as other meets.

With the focus now shifting back to training for the Games, Allan-Burch will travel to Colorado for high altitude training to improve his fitness.

“I will be competing monthly at different events around the United States and a few big Grand Prix meets, but before all that I will be in Colorado to prepare for 12 days to get my fitness up,” he said.

“Right now I’m looking forward to getting into some altitude training in Colorado.

“I have my 50 metre qualification but I would like to try and qualify in a second event and I know I can do this, it’s just a matter of setting up a time that can get me in.

“I may try and get into another race for the Games in March when I compete, so we will see how it goes.”

Competing on local shores for the first time in quite some time, he led the relay race that saw him swim alone against teams of four in a 100 metre race from start to finish.

He beat a team that included 33-year-old 1996 Olympian Steven Fahey, current national 100 metres breaststroke holder 21-year-old Julian Fletcher as well as the Island’s fastest teenager, Nic Patterson and former national team member Ashley Aitken.

And for good measure he broke his own national 100 metres short course record when he stopped the clock at 50.46 seconds.

The guest swimmer also took part in three individual events the 50 metres freestyle, the 50 metres butterfly and the 100 metres backstroke.

He clocked 25.12 in the 50 free, beating the Herring brothers, Matt (28.06) and older brother Jonathan (28.08).

While he said enjoyed the racing and festivities that surrounded the weekend, he admitted it was difficult to perform at his optimum with the races being so close together.

The elements didn’t help either with the rain and wind causing problems for swimmers and spectators alike, yet he was thrilled with the turnout from those who braved the weather.

“It was pretty good, the conditions were difficult in it being cold and rainy but it was fun still and had a good turn-out under the conditions.

“The relay was fun, I was able to go a bit faster than I normally do and even though it wasn’t an official race it was good to swim a fast time and have some fun at the same time.

“The events were average, it was more like my training in the sense that the races were so close together. When I did the relay I put a lot into that and it was a short turn around for the other events, so it was a bit difficult.

“I didn’t have any warming down or recovery time but I was OK with it and it helped me get back into the swing of things in terms of racing.”

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