in the three-day Dr Ralph Hicken Memorial meet in Toronto, Canada, from May 12-14.

The competition replaces the popular Waterloo meet in which BASA usually take part. But that event has been cancelled this year because their facility is being torn down.

National swim coach Richard Goodwin anticipates a higher quality of competition at the new meet which has attracted somewhere between 700 and 800 swimmers, mostly from the province of Ontario.

"We have never participated in this one before but we understand it is of a higher calibre than the one we usually compete in,'' said Goodwin yesterday.

"This is something of an unknown but we do know the event will be fully subscribed. Entries closed out last Friday.

"We'll be in the deep end but we're hoping for some good performances and more qualification times for CISC (Caribbean Island Swimming Championships) which will be held in Aruba in July.'' Also coming up soon are the National Championships in the third weekend of June, as well as a series of qualifiers for CISC in May and June.

Goodwin took over as national coach from Gareth Davies early last year, after serving as Davies' assistant for 10 years. Davies, in the head post himself for the better part of 20 years, has opted to take a break from the demanding role.

"He (Davies) stepped down from the national role and worked on a club level and this year he's decided to take a break and maybe will re-involve himself later,'' Goodwin explained.

"Right now he's enjoying what I hope will be a temporary retirement. He's been involved in swimming, probably, for the better part of 20 years.'' Team for Toronto Boys 13-14: Roy Allan Burch, James Cowen, Stephen Kenny, Cameron McDonald Boys 15 and over: Michael O'Connor, Andrew Shaw, Graham Smith, Scott Simmons Girls 13-14: Ashley Aitken, Melanie Fullerton, Anastasia Lau Girls 15 and over: Kiera Aitken, Ashley Robinson, Leslie Smith.