Islands Championships in Aruba later this month.

The squad leave today, stopping off in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where they will undergo a four-day training camp at the International Swimming Hall of Fame's 50 metre pool.

Training will be held in conjunction with the world-famous Jack Nelson camp and while in Fort Lauderdale, the swimmers will fine tune their skills and begin their taper.

They leave Florida for Aruba next Wednesday.

The Caribbean Islands Championship is a bi-annual, five-day meet, attracting top swimmers from 20 countries within the Caribbean area.

Strong contingents are expected from Puerto Rico and Trinidad & Tobago, while Jamaica, Bahamas and Cuba will also field some top competitors.

This year the championship is an officially FINA-sanctioned meet for Olympic qualification purposes. Consequently, competition in the senior age group (18-21 years) is expected to be especially strong as swimmers vie for a spot on their respective Olympic teams.

While Stephen Fahy is the only Bermuda swimmer to have so far qualified for the Sydney Games, Ronald Cowen will be making his final bid to also earn a ticket Down Under.

Cowen is already in Florida, making final preparations for the Caribbean championships. He will pin his hopes on the 100 and 200 metre freestyle events.

Graham Smith in the boys' 15-17 age group and Roy-Allan Burch in the boys' 13-14 will also be looking to perform well after turning in strong performances at the local Age Group Championships which concluded last weekend.

Among the girls, the Aitken sisters, Kiera and Ashley, are expected to perform well, as are Jessica Sousa and Anastasia Lau.

Bermuda's full squad: 11 to 12 age group -- Flora Duffy, Anastasia Lau, Austin Kenny; 13 to 14 age group -- Ashley Aitken, Ashley Robinson, Roy-Allan Burch, James Cowen, Stephen Kenny; 15 to 17 age group -- Kiera Aitken, Kim Frith, Lesley Smith, Jessica Sousa; Nuri Latham, Michael O'Connor, Scott Simmons, Graham Smith, Bruno Tiexiera; 18 to 21 age group -- Ronald Cowen.