The Commonwealth Games in Australia probably came four years early for two of Bermuda?s brightest athletic talents.

High jumpers Zindzi Swan and Latroya Darrell went into last night?s final with the lowest personal bests of any of the 13 competitors, and most likely the lowest expectations.

That both were eliminated at the same height as three others, attempting what would have been a new Bermuda women?s record, was no disgrace.

But for 20-year-old Swan and 18-year-old Darrell their undoubted potential might come to the fore at the next Games in New Delhi in 2010 with the kind of experience that was sorely lacking on this occasion.

Competing in a major international festival for the first time, in front of a crowd of some 70,000 inside the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the two Island youngsters might have found the occasion overwhelming.

Yet neither looked out of place.

After clearing her opening height, 1.73 metres, at the second attempt, and then going over 1.78, also on her second jump, Darrell finally found the challenge of 1.83 ? four centimetres higher than her PB ? too big a hurdle.

Swan, with a PB of 1.80 metres, cleared both 1.73 and 1.78 comfortably with her first attempts. But she too found 1.83 too stiff a challenge, dislodging the bar on all three jumps.

However, as the official?s red flag signalled an early exit for the two Bermudians, they found themselves joined by three far more accomplished athletes.

Canada?s Nicole Forrester, with a PB of 1.94 and considered one of the medal favourites, chose to skip the opening two heights but when she eventually entered the fray, failed on all three tries at 1.83.

England?s Julia Bennett suffered the same disappointment as did home crowd favourite, Australia?s Petrina Price.

Official results showed Swan in a tie for ninth, Darrell 12th and Forrester 13th and last, having failed to clear a single height.

Gold went to South African Anika Smith, the only girl in the field to clear 1.91, but still some five centimetres short of the Games record.

Julie Crane of Wales took the silver with 1.88 while Angela McKee of Canada and Jamaica?s Karen Beautle shared the bronze after both cleared 1.83, each with the same number of misses.

A smiling Swan said afterwards she had been aiming for a new PB but ?things just didn?t work out?.

?I really thought I could jump 1.88, but 1.83 was a critical height for me.

?This was the biggest event I?ve ever been in and my first jump, I was kind of nervous but then after a while I got used to it.

?But it was a good experience and in four years? time I?d love to do it all again.?

Darrell also admitted she had suffered a few nerves.

?I tried to block the crowd out but I guess I was a bit nervous,? she said.

?I definitely thought I could go over 1.83, but then there were a few other girls who went out at the same time as me, which was a bit surprising.?

?This was our first meet of the season and it?s early for us,? added Swan.

?But we?ll keep jumping through the summer and hopefully we?ll both get better.?

Earlier in the day, Bermuda?s full bore shooters, Nelson Simons and Walter Trott, wrapped up their Games with the final session of the men?s singles at the Wellsford Rifle Range in Bendigo.

Of the 38 competitors, Simons placed 35th with a score of 364.21 while Trott finished in 36th with 337.11.

Behind them were the two shooters from Antigua.