Gerry Swan's contract as Bermuda's national track and field coach may not have been renewed at the beginning of the year but he's still coaching some of the Island's most promising athletes.

Last weekend Swan took Taylor Ashley-Bean, Shaquille Dill – both medallists at this year's Carifta Games – and Andrea Jackson to two meets in the New England area.

The first was at the New Balance Boston Twilight meet at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts. And Swan said that Ashley-Bean won the second section of the women's 1500 metres with a time 4:57.55 – her best time for the year to date.

Jackson, whose primary event is the heptathlon, competed in the women's 800 metres and placed seventh with a time of 2:43.29.

"But it was 16-year-old Shaquille Dill, who continues to show remarkable improvement, who turned in the most exciting performance of the day," said Swan.

Dill covered the 800 metres in a personal best time of 1:51.38.

"Had Dill not had a lapse during the early part of the second lap, he could have achieved the qualifying standard of 1:51.00 for the 2010 IAAF World Junior Championships and brought him closer to the Commonwealth Games standard of 1:50.50," added Swan.

On Sunday, Swan and the athletes attended the New England Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Regis College in Weston, Massachusetts.

Dill emerged the winner of the men's 800m event with a time of 1:53.41 while Ashley-Bean covered the 1500 metres in a time of 5:02.34.

The former national coach said that he had watched Dill improve his 800m time during the past five months by almost six seconds and more than 17 seconds during the past 18 months.

"It is worth noting that Dill's current best time (of 1:51.38) is about three seconds faster than the time ran by Aaron Evans at the same age (1:54.36)."

Evans worked under Swan when the coach was in charge of the national squad.

Evans first broke the Bermuda junior men's 800 metres record at age 18 in 2008 with a time of 1:52.61, breaking at that time the previous record of 1:52.89 that had stood since 1984.

Dill has an impressive record for a 16-year-old. In February this year he clocked 1:55.85 at the New England Indoor Championships and then won the silver medal at the Carifta Games in April with a time of 1:53.31 and then lowered the time again earlier this month at the National Sports Centre (1:52.50) and beat that time at the weekend.