Bermuda’s swimmers ended their best showing at the NatWest Island Games with a bang at the National Aquatics Centre.The Island’s team of Lisa Blackburn, Ashley Yearwood, Rebecca Sharpe and Rebecca Heyliger won the gold medal in the women’s 400 metres medley relay in a new Games and national record time of 4:19.22.That success arrived on the heels of individual medal winning displays by Blackburn and Yearwood.Blackburn, the senior member of Bermuda’s team, won the bronze medal in the women’s 100 metres individual medley final in 1:05.47 while Yearwood won silver in the women’s 100 metres freestyle (57:33) and bronze in the women’s 50 metres backstroke (30:18).In all, Bermuda’s swimmers bagged 16 medals including five gold and achieved several personal bests, national and Games records along the way.It was by far the hosts’ best showing at the biennial Games, surpassing the three medals they claimed during their previous appearance at the event in 2009 in Aland.“We really wanted to put on a good show in front of the home crowd and we are proud of the accomplishments of all the swimmers,” said national coach Ben Smith. “We had lots of personal best times, lots of records and everyone swam well and worked well as a team.“You could see the high spirits throughout and they supported each other which is what we really want to see which is important. I know both myself and Richard (assistant national coach Richard Godwin) are extremely proud of the team’s accomplishments.”Denison University freshman Yearwood came into her own during the Games, winning five individual medals including gold in the 50 metres freestyle as well as three gold medals and a silver in the relay events.For added measure the Division 3 collegian swimmer set a new Games’ record (26:50) en route to winning the gold medal in the women’s 50 metres freestyle final.Yearwood said her phenomenal achievements in the pool surpassed expectations.“I’m definitely surprised at what I have done,” she added. “My plan was to come out and do PBs (personal bests) and get better and I got medals and was surprised at that.“I wasn’t expecting to medal in most of my races. But it was great and definitely feel I can do a lot better.”Smith reckoned the future of the sport was in good hands with the current crop of swimmers.“It’s great to see what Ashley has been able to do, building off her university season and the same goes for Rebecca Heyliger,” he said. “Madelyn Moore joined the team at 13 and showed her worth, so the future is bright.“What we have is a group of girls coming on showing their potential for the upcoming meets. They were very close to hitting the qualifying time for next year’s Commonwealth Games and we will be looking for them to hit that qualifying time and then take to them to a bigger stage and see what we can do with them.”The evergreen Blackburn also left her mark on the Games, winning four individual bronze medals and four more in the relay.“Obviously Lisa showed her accomplishments over and over again,” Smith said. “We are proud of all of our swimmers who have been rewarded for all the hard work they have put in the past season.”