Kiera Aitken, star of Bermuda?s swim team at the Athens Olympics two years ago, showed her class again this morning, powering through her 100 metres backstroke heat and into this evening?s Commonwealth Games semi-finals.

The 18-year-old narrowly failed to set a personal best but her time of one minute, 4.55 seconds was good enough to place her 11th among the 16

qualifiers.

And if the Dalhousie University student, who won her heat in Athens as well as setting a national record, could go marginally faster this evening, it

might just be enough to carry her into tomorrow?s final.

Aitken placed third in the second of four morning heats, finishing behind England?s medal favourite Melanie Marshall (1:01.92) and New Zealand?s

Hannah McLean (1:02.52), but in front of swimmers from Northern Ireland, Singapore, Bahamas and Pakistan.

Top qualifier was Australia?s Sophie Edington who clocked 1:01.32 in winning heat three.

Two of Bermuda?s other three swimmers also saw action this morning, but neither Michael O?Connor nor Ronald Cowen were able to advance.

Both competed in the 50 metres butterfly with O?Connor placing seventh out of eight in heat four in a time of 25.94, a tenth of a second outside his

best. Cowen also placed seventh in heat six, clocking 25.92, which was believed to be a new PB.

Of the 43 who took part in the heats, Cowen ranked 20th and O?Connor 21st.

Cowen was back in the pool again less than an hour later for the 200 metre freestyle heats, but despite touching the wall in what was again believed to be a new personal best, he failed to go through to this evening?s straight final.

The 25-year-old placed seventh in heat three in 1:56.12, more than half a second faster than the time in which he qualified for these Games.

Among 33 who swam this morning?s five heats, Cowen ranked 20th.

Bermuda?s fourth swim team member, Graham Smith, had been scheduled to take part in heat five of the 100 metres breaststroke but a troublesome shoulder injury forced his withdrawal.

Island coach David Fry had said previously he wanted Smith to rest the injury so that he could concentrate on his speciality, the 200 metres

Individual Medley, scheduled for Monday.

Later today, Bermuda?s teenage gymnastics team step out at the Rod Laver Arena for the team finals which also double as qualification for the

Individual All-Around Competition.

And with 13 countries taking part, the Island?s five youngsters, Casey Lopes, Caitlyn Mello, Kaisey Griffith, Kalena Astwood and Hannah King, will

find themselves competing alongside medal favourites, having been grouped in the evening session with Canada.

Also featured in the evening session will be England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, hosts Australia and New Zealand, putting the relatively

inexperienced Bermuda group up against some of the world?s finest gymnasts.

The order of rotation will see Bermuda compete first on the uneven bars, then the beam, followed by the floor exercises and finally the vault.

Each country will field five gymnasts with the top four competing on each apparatus ? the best three scores counting towards the team total.

Individual scores then count towards qualification for the All-Around Competition and the Apparatus finals which run at the same venue over the

next three days.

Gold medal favourites Australia will be gunning to repeat their success at the Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 and Manchester in 2002.

But England?s hopes of challenging suffered a huge blow earlier this week when their most decorated gymnast, Beth Tweddle, who had been expected to duel with Australia?s Monette Russo for individual gold, sustained a serious ankle injury while training and has been forced to withdraw.

Meanwhile, for Bermuda, tomorrow?s big event will be the women?s triathlon which will see England-based schoolgirl Flora Duffy and Karen Smith take on 25 of the world?s best.

Eighteen-year-old Duffy and and 37-year-old Smith have been allocated numbers one and two respectively for the Olympic distance race to be held in and around the Melbourne suburb of St. Kilda, some 10 kilometres from the city centre . . . but they?ll be well aware that a finishing place to

match those numbers might prove nigh impossible.

A finish among the top half of the field would be considered a huge accomplishment in a field which includes three leading Australians, New

Zealanders, Canadians and English.

Also in action tomorrow will be two of Bermuda?s four-strong shooting team.

Sixty-year-old Sinclair Raynor, a veteran of several overseas shooting festivals and the senior member of Bermuda?s Games contingent, teams up with Ross Roberts, 44, for the 50 metres small bore Rifle Prone Pairs at the Melbourne Range.

Bermuda?s two other shooters, Nelson Simons and Walter Trott, compete in the full bore Open Pairs on Sunday, some 100 miles north of the city in Bendigo.