“Execution” will be the key word for Roy-Allan Burch, the Bermuda swimmer, who has vowed to put his best forward at the Arena Grand Prix at Charlotte.

The SwimMac Carolina swimmer is competing in the 50?metres and 100?metres freestyle at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Centre among a star-studded field that includes Michael Phelps, the 18-times Olympic gold medal-winner.

Burch, 28, will compete in the 50 free today and 100 free tomorrow, with the aim of improving on his showing at the Mesa Grand Prix in Arizona last month, where he met the World Championships B standard in the 50 free after touching the wall in 22.99sec en route to qualifying for the B final, which he won.

“I am looking forward to the meet this weekend and my goal mainly is to improve on where I was in Mesa,” Burch said. “I have been reviewing my race and looking at what I did well and really it will be about putting together what I did in the morning [preliminaries] and improving on that at night [finals]; making sure I execute the things I know how to execute.”

Burch, who is based in Charlotte, has invested a lot of time in the pool lately, perfecting certain aspects of his technique.

“I have been spending a lot of time nailing my starts in post-practice and also staying comfortable in my finish,” he said. “I tend to get muscled [tight], whereas I need to stay big, fluid and comfortable.”

Competing in front of his own fans, alongside American swimming royalty, has the father of two chomping at the bit.

“It is always nice to compete at home because the crowd knows me and they get me pumped,” he said. “You want to perform for the people who support you daily. I enjoy competing here in front of the kids, showing them that I am a worthy opponent.”

Among those who will be cheering Burch on from the stands is Ben Smith, the Bermuda coach, who hopes to see the Island’s leading male swimmer continue to make positive strides.

“I am hoping for him to continue with the performances that we have seen over the last few seasons,” Smith said.

The national coach has travelled to Charlotte to be debriefed on Burch’s progress by his SwimMac coaches. “It is important for me to have this opportunity to see what he has been doing in practice and have a chance to talk to his coaches about what he is doing,” Smith said. “That helps me with what we are going to be doing this summer at Bermuda’s National Championship and Commonwealth Games.

“We do not always get the opportunities for me to look at the details that he has been working on to perform at his best, so this is a great opportunity for that.”

Burch added: “It is always good to have him [Smith] out and it is also important because we travel together for championships. It is good for him to see what has been going on here: how I am swimming and getting in touch with my coaches here on a personal level, having good chats with them to see how we can move towards the summer.”

Michael Phelps, the 18-times Olympic gold medal-winner, will have to wait at least another month for the chance to renew rivalries with fellow Olympic great Ryan Lochte.

Lochte, who is a team-mate of Bermuda’s Roy-Allan Burch, poured cold water on Phelps’s comeback from retirement after beating him in the final of the 100?metres butterfly at the Mesa Grand Prix in Arizona.

Fans had eagerly awaited a rematch between the two heavyweights in the build-up to this week’s Arena Grand Prix at Charlotte.

However, they will now have to wait a little longer after Lochte withdrew because of knee injury.

“It is disappointing, definitely,” the 11-times Olympic gold medal-winner said. “I was really looking forward to swimming in Charlotte, now that it is my home, in front of all of the SwimMAC fans.”

Rather than competing in the pool, Lochte will help to host this weekend’s event at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Centre.

“I will do my best to be a good host,” he added.

The sixth and final Arena Grand Prix event of the 2013-14 season will be held from June 19 to 22 at the George F Haines International Swim Centre in Santa Clara, California.