off his preparation in sensational style on Sunday night, racing to a new senior national age group record in the 200 metres backstroke.

With the Games less than two weeks' away, Hammond clocked 2:14:66 to complete a successful trip for Bermuda swimmers to the Star Invitational meet in Buffalo, New York.

The Sunday night finals also saw Anastasia Lau place fourth in the girls' 11-12 100 metres breaststroke and Scott Simmons take two sixth place finishes in the 13-14 200m breaststroke and 100m freestyle.

Ashley Aitken finished eighth in the 13-14 200m breaststroke while Stephen Troake clocked 55.00 seconds to place eighth in the final of the over 15 100m free and Graham Smith took eighth in the 200m breaststroke.

Earlier in the three-day meet Bermuda won four medals, all in the 50 metre freestyle -- Lau taking a bronze in the 11-12 division, Ashley Aitken silver in the 13-14, Roy-Allan Burch bronze in the 13-14 and Troake bronze in the 15 and over.

The team arrived back on the Island yesterday afternoon.

LEWIN LEADS DINGHY FLEET SLG Lewin leads dinghy fleet Paula Lewin and her crew coped best with difficult conditions to win Sunday's latest fitted dinghy race in St. George's Harbour.

Huge swings in the direction of the light breeze allowed only one race to be sailed and meant that victory required a measure of luck as well as skill.

Lewin's crew had recurring difficulties with their spinnaker work on Challenger , but nailed the shifts convincingly enough on the upwind legs to claim first place ahead of Victory .

Veteran sailor Stevie Dickinson stepped in at the last minute to replace the absent main sail man on Victory .

Port Royal finished third, followed by Contest and Elizabeth . At the halfway mark of the fitted dinghy season, Port Royal leads the standings, though all of the other boats are close behind.

SAILORS FACE NEW CHALLENGE SLG Sailors face new challenge Three teenaged Post-Optimist sailors from Bermuda will compete in next week's Byte class world championships in Kingston, Ontario.

Zan Kirkland, 16, Lawson Williams, 14, and Ben Wicks, 14, are new to the Byte, the official Canadian youth boat, and are undergoing intensive training on Lake Ontario in preparation.

They will be up against more than 100 opponents, including adult sailors from the UK.

Kirkland has been backed by a Government sports grant.

The three also plan to sail in a Junior Olympic regatta in New Jersey.

SWIMMING SW