Roy-Allan Burch, Bermuda’s two-times Olympian, will look to improve on his recent showing at the Central American and Caribbean Games at this week’s Short Course World Swimming Championships in Doha, Qatar.

The SwimMac Carolina Elite Team swimmer placed fifth in the final of the 50 metres freestyle in Mexico earlier this month and shattered his own national record in the 50 metres butterfly.

Burch swam 24.77sec in his qualifying heat, shaving nearly a second off his previous best of 25.60 at the 2012 Caribbean Islands Swimming Championships.

Also flying Bermuda’s banner at the senior level in Qatar is Julian Fletcher, who has already enjoyed success this year.

The 23-year-old University of Southern California student captured gold medals in the 100 metres and 200 metres breaststroke at this summer’s Caribbean Island Swimming Championships in Barbados.

Fletcher’s impressive time of 2min 22.71sec in the 200 metres breaststroke eclipsed the meet record, which he set in 2012, and also the national record previously held by Chris Flook that had stood for more than two decades.

He also represented Bermuda at the Commonwealth Games in Scotland where he achieved his goal of reaching the semi-final in the 100 metres breaststroke.

Accompanying Burch and Fltcher is Richard Goodwin, the assistant national swimming coach, who is thrilled to see Bermuda represented at this level of competition.

“It is incredible to see our athletes perform at such a high level,” he said. “With the global swimming community improving every year, it is critical for Bermuda to continue to work exceptionally hard to keep up its pace of development.”

Also in Qatar are top junior swimmers Jesse Washington and Vanessa Esposito, who will attend a special training camp being run by FINA, the world aquatics governing body, later this week.

Accompanying Washington and Eposito is coach Shona Palmer.

“This opportunity is fantastic for two of our up-and-coming athletes to see what it takes to get to the top,” Palmer said. “It is also important for us a coaches to be able to interact with our international peers and learn from such countries as the USA and Australia, perennial leaders in our sport.”

Attending last Saturday’s FINA Extraordinary Congress, which included a Golden Clinic for coaches and a bi-annual Aquatics Conference, were assistant national coach Goodwin and Bermuda Amateur Swimming Association colleague Stephen Castree.

The Extraordinary Congress involved representatives from 157 countries, who were all required to vote on important matters such as the global drug policy and rules and regulations covering all aquatic disciplines.

“It is critical that BASA are able to represent at such International events which represent Bermuda over a number of days and enable our opinion to help define the future of the global sport,” Castree said.

Important rulings around synchronised swimming, diving and the newly adopted discipline of high diving all took place during the congress.