Bermuda Olympian Roy Allen Burch wiped three seconds of his previous best time in the 50 metres butterfly to set a new national record at the FINA World Championships in Rome, according to national swim coach Ben Smith.

However, Burch's exact time was not reported in an e-mail sent to The Royal Gazette by coach Smith.

Burch and Nicholas Thomson were the first Bermudians up in Sunday's opening day of the championships in the Eternal City, both competing in the 50m butterfly.

The butterfly is not Burch's strongest stroke with Smith admitting the race was no more than a tune-up for the main events which will take place later this week.

"After a week of final preparation for the meet it was good to get the racing started," Smith said. "The atmosphere in Rome and at the swimming venues was building all week for the start of the events.

"Roy is accustomed to this level of competition and had been quietly building confidence as the start of the meet approached. Roy was focused on a fast start and getting the routine of the meet under his belt and was presently surprised by the time that he posted."

Although Thomson has been competing in international meets since he was an age group swimmer, the championships are his first taste of the elite level. Smith said he came close to his best time and was looking forward to swimming his stronger events.

Julian Fletcher also equalled his personal best in the 100m breastroke, his strongest event.

Yesterday saw Kiera Aitken and Rebecca Sharpe in action in the 100m backstoke – the event Aitken competed in at the Beijing Olympics and the race in which Sharpe won a gold medal at the recent Carifta Games.