Tiny Caitlin Mello, second youngest in the entire Commonwealth Games gymnastic competition, created history yesterday by becoming the Island?s first-ever gymnast to qualify for an All-Around final at the four-yearly festival.

At just 13, the slightly-built Mello will step into Melbourne?s Rod Laver Arena again tonight, having impressed the judges sufficiently during yesterday?s team event to earn her spot alongside the sport?s elite.

Team action in which squads of up to five competed in all four disciplines ? uneven bars, vault, beam and floor - saw Australia predictably take the gold, England the silver, Canada the bronze, and Bermuda ninth place out of 11, relegating Northern Ireland to last and India to tenth.But it was an improvement on the Island?s performance in Manchester four years ago where the girls finished bottom of the pile, and this time around Mello?s impressive showing was the icing on the cake.

With 25 of the 49 competitors earning a spot in today?s individual final, Mello placed 26th with a total score of 46.650.

But rules allow only three girls from any one country a place in the final, and the fact that both England and South Africa had four scores better than that of Mello meant the Bermudian teenager qualified for another appearance on the big stage.

Kaisey Griffith, also 13 and at eight months younger than Mello the youngest of any of yesterday?s competitors, came desperately close to joining her team-mate in tonight?s final, placing 29th overall with 43.80 ? with another Bermudian, 17-year-old Kaleena Astwood, right behind in 30th with 43.350.

While that trio performed in all four of the disciplines, Bermuda?s other two team members, Hannah King and Casey Lopes, took part in three and one respectively.

Coach Tina Williams said afterwards she was delighted with the overall results.

?The girls did really well,? she said.

?We?ve had a good week preparing in the gym and I think they acquitted themselves well. Obviously we?ve got two young ones here who haven?t competed at this level before. This was their first time in front of a big audience and they handled it well.

?They said they were fine but I think they were nervous. It was a good experience for all of them to be competing around higher level teams, and hopefully next time we?ll be up there with them. If we can just polish our routines a bit more we can compete with these teams.?

Fellow Bermuda coach Michelle Strenk said it was a night all of the girls would remember for a long time to come.

?They were definitely a little starstruck with the size of the stadium,? said Strenk.

?But they did a good job and had a good attitude. Even after a couple of falls they picked themselves up and went on to the next event with a really positive attitude.

?I can definitely say they enjoyed it . . . it was a great experience for all of them. We?ve made huge leaps from Manchester four years ago, our scores have improved and we haven?t finished last. We?re excited about New Delhi in four years? time.?

Mello was consistently the best of Bermuda?s girls from the start, putting up a score of 10.60 on the uneven bars compared to 10.35 by Griffith, 9.30 by Astwood and 7.80 by King.

On the beam that followed, Mello was again impressive, scoring a highly respectable 12.35 while Astwood returned a score of 11.35 and King and Griffith identical scores of 10.40.

It was Astwood, however, who shone brightest on the floor, receiving a score of 11.30 compared to Griffith?s 11.20, Mello?s 11.15 and Lopes? 10.75.

Mello and King both nailed solid landings to earn 12.55 in the final event of the night ? the vault ? with Griffith scoring 11.85 and Astwood 11.40.

Over at the Sports and Aquatic Centre meanwhile, Bermuda?s Kiera Aitken, who had finished third in her morning heat, placed sixth out of eight in the second semi-final of the 100 metres backstroke, failing to qualify for tonight?s final.Her time of one minute, 4.61 seconds was six hundredths of a second slower than her performance earlier in the day but still good enough for 11th out of the 16 semi-final qualifiers.

Aitken?s heat was won by England?s Sophie Edington in 1:01.30.