Swimmer Roy-Allan Burch is set for a bright future in the pool after making his debut on the international stage at the Commonwealth Games, his coach has declared.

Burch was part of the three-man, one-woman swim team at the recently concluded Games in Manchester, England.

Although they did not get any medals, both he, Graham Smith, Ronald Cowen and Kiera Aitken performed admirably, setting numerous personal bests along the way.

Burch's coach, Stephen Castree, believes his charge is destined for big things and is looking for him to build on his Commonwealth experience.

Burch, 16, holds numerous Bermuda records in all age categories, including the senior record for the 50 metres freestyle.

Last year he competed for the Amersham Swimming Club in England as part of an exchange visit.

“The times completed there gave him a ranking of number three in the UK for the 50m freestyle in the 17 to 18 years age group - the age group above his own,” said Castree. “He is similarly ranked in Canada.”

In order to further stretch Burch, he and a group of swimmers, along with coach Barbara Waldow, attended a training camp at Millfield School in England this past Easter.

“Roy-Allan improved his times for all events in a 50m pool and swam in the British Commonwealth trials in the 50m freestyle event,” said Castree. “The event was held in Manchester and it was an excellent learning curve for Roy-Allan's development to perform in the Commonwealth Games pool four months prior to the event.”

Burch qualified for the Games in May and swam in four events, the 50m and 100m freestyle and the 50m and 100m backstroke.

The events were highly competitive, but Burch managed to swim personal best times in three of the four disciplines.

“Roy-Allan has matured into a focused young adult and has the potential to go an extremely long way in the sport,” predicted Castree.

The highlight of the Games for Burch came in the 50m freestyle heat on August 3, when the Bermudian was in the lead for the first 30 metres.

“He recorded a best time of 24.55 seconds for the distance and with a little more work on various areas of his race will see that time drop to below 24 seconds - a time good enough to qualify for the semi-finals of the Commonwealth Games,” said Castree.

“Roy leaves Bermuda in September to begin his overseas training in the US at school and has the aim of participating in the World Championships next summer where the goal is to obtain the qualification standard for the 2004 Olympics a year prior to the event and then develop further prior to the Athens Games.”