IN three weeks time show jumper Jill Terceira will be competing in Italy and France. Come next month swimmer Kiera Aitken will return to her base in Barcelona, Spain to swim for her club. Shortley Arantxa King will return to her prestigious Stanford University in California for her second year to compete against the best NCAA long and triple jumpers.

Triathlete Flora Duffy meanwhile has vowed to go professional and no doubt long jumper Tyrone Smith will be targeting the London Olympic Games in 2012.

And swimmer Roy Allen Burch is also expected be looking four years down the road.

Despite the tough times that some of Bermuda's athletes have had over the past two weeks against the best athletes on the planet during the Beijing Olympic Games, these Bermudians are already planning to be in London four years from now.

Show jumper Terceira said this week from her Hong Kong base: "I leave Hong Kong on Friday (today) and will only have one week off before travelling to Italy for a three-week tour and possibly a show in France."

Terceira, who jumped Chaka at these Olympics, will be taking four horses to those shows ¿ some of them up and coming mounts.

As for London in 2012, she said: "I will definitely try for London and hope Bermuda can get the funding and the support to have a team compete at the Pan American Games (in 2011) to then try to qualify for London 2012. The Pan Am Games are our only chance to qualify a team and/or individual in the year prior to the Olympics."

The next major event Terceira will be trying to qualify for will be the World Equestrian Games.

"Over the next year I will be looking forward to qualifying for the World Equestrian Games which will be held in the United States in Kentucky in 2010."

Of her performance in these Olympics, Terceira said: "It was disappointing (the second round when she was eliminiated). Chaka was not very willing to jump ¿ it was difficult to get my rhythm as the course was big and very technical with lots of turns. The course was a huge step up from Friday's round and I believe Chaka lost a bit of confidence. The good news is Chaka is sound and well and I have jumped him to start to build up his confidence again."

Gerry Swan, Bermuda national track and field coach, said he is looking forward to the 2012 Games in London but said that the island's athletes must get more opportunities to compete in overseas meets.

Bermuda's long jumpers King and Smith both failed to make the finals ¿ Smith narrowly so.

Swan said: "There has to be more opportunities for our athletes to compete in meets ¿ particularly overseas meets ¿ which will be able to help them with their preparation for international competitions and development ¿ at junior and senior levels."

He said that Bermuda must "explore the possibility of some of our athletes participating in overseas training camps that possibly could provide opportunities to compete in some meets in Europe and/or other jurisdictions".

Swan said: "Athletes too have important roles to play ¿ they have to see the big picture and be fully committed to and serious about all aspects of their preparations and appropriate funding is vitally important ¿ it is important that the preparations of athletes do not become victims of no or inadequate funding."

The national coach said that King was looking forward to the 2012 Games.

"The 2012 Olympics are the Games for which Arantxa wants to be fully ready. Given her performances this year, it was felt that she would benefit from the exposure to this year's Olympic Games which would be an important part of her preparations for the 2012 Games.

"Part of the expectation this year was for her to experience the atmosphere of an Olympic Games, learn from it, try to jump a personal best or perform as best as she could and record points of significance relevant to her performance.

"It will be the 2012 Olympic Games at which there will be greater expectations from Arantxa King and Tyrone Smith, presuming Smith has an interest for those Games."

Swan said that King and Smith and other athletes must continue to be encouraged.

"Our preparations for the 2012 Olympic Games should have started ¿ and in some cases have started. When the 2006 best performance marks of some athletes are compared to their 2008 best marks (and matched against the ultimate marks for 2012) they have progressed significantly and are currently on course for the 2012 Olympic Games.

"In a few cases they ¿ Tyrone Smith, Aaron Evans and Harold Houston ¿ are ahead of the projected performance goals for 2008 to keep them theoretically on target for the 2012 goal."

Swan noted that Smith is significantly well placed for the 2012 Games. "Of course, much can happen over the next few years ¿ hopefully it will be favourable to the aspirations for 2012."

King has just finished her freshman year at Stanford University and will seemingly become better and better during the numerous NCAA meets. And she may also return to the triple jump at which she also excelled.

For Bermuda's swimmers, Aitken and Burch, it is expected that they will continue with their training and competition.

Mary Beth Aitken, the manager of Bermuda's swim team in Beijing and mother of Kiera, said this week from China that her daughter will return to her base in Barcelona.

"Kiera will take a break until the end of September then return to Barcelona to train with the same team," she said.

But for right now they are going to enjoy the Closing Ceremony and spend time doing a little "sight seeing and shopping".