Four seasoned Carifta Games campaigners are tipped as the Island's main medal hopes in the junior regional classic being held in Bermuda over the Easter weekend.

However, national athletics coach Gerry Swan thinks some other Bermudian competitors could spring “one or two surprises” in front of their home crowd.

Speaking as a 22-member national team was presented to the public at City Hall yesterday, Swan listed Under-20 athletes Zindzi Swan, Brittany Marshall and James Bergl and Under-17 competitor Latroya Darrell as the primary medal prospects when the country hosts the annual athletics showpiece for the first time since 1980.

Regarding his namesake, Zindzi, he noted her vast experience at Carifta and the World Youth Championships would be vital if she is to medal in her final outing at this level.

“She knows the quality of Carifta and that she has to be at her best on those days if she is to be in the medals in long jump and high jump.

“Given her achievements and history and what she has jumped - particularly in the high jump this year - she is very capable. She has jumped 1.80 metres which is a personal best and a new women's national record.”

One objective that may be in Zindzi's sight is the Under-20 Girls' high jump record of 1.82 metres which was set last year. Equalling or eclipsing that would be a great note on which to exit the Games as well as a belated birthday present for the star athlete who turns 19 next Friday.

Bergl, also in his last Carifta appearance, will compete in the discus and shot putt with the former being the 19-year-old's better event.

“He is throwing 48 to 49 metres this year in discus. I think if he gets over 50 metres he could be well positioned for a medal,” predicted the national coach.

Meanwhile, Marshall is making her first foray among the Under-20s and this, Swan noted, would be a serious test.

“She will be stepping up to a higher challenge and sterner competition from what she has been used to in the lower division. She too will have to probably throw personal bests in both disciplines if she wants a medal,” he observed, discussing the shot putt and discus thrower.

Darrell's success at Under-17 level in the past two years - including a high jump silver last year - makes her a solid bet for Bermuda in that event and the triple jump but as Swan cautioned “no medals are assured”.

“She has been jumping fairly well. In fact she has had two personal best marks in her events. This season she jumped 12 metres in the triple jump for the first time and achieved 1.75 metres recently in the high jump.

“However getting medals is a matter of making those marks when it matters most. It's whether she can deliver on the particular day.”

Swan noted two thirds of Bermuda's team would be making their Carifta debuts and were rather inexperienced.

“It's a relatively young squad but I'm optimistic they will do their best. In some cases that means getting to the final. In other cases it may not get them to the final but strange things can happen in any athletic endeavour and I imagine there will be some surprising outcomes,” said the national coach.

Sports Minister Dale Butler congratulated those chosen to represent Bermuda against their Caribbean peers, saying their hard work and dedication had been rewarded in selection to national duty.

In a clear reference to the recent stand-off between the Bermuda Track and Field Association (BTFA) and Mid-Island Striders Track Club over the Carifta selection process, the minister urged all Bermuda to forget that impasse and unite in unconditional support of the Games.

“We have a national responsibility to put our differences behind us and rally behind these young people . . . we want to pack the National Sports Centre just as we did for the Bermuda-Montserrat (World Cup football) game a few weeks ago,” he declared.

Butler said he was heartened to see that from initial reports that only a handful of athletes had qualified for Carifta the ranks had swelled to 22.

He lamented it was unfortunate that some potential competitors were overlooked because of Mid-Island's stance against sending their members to the national training squad by the December 15, 2003, deadline.

Meanwhile, BTFA president Judy Simmons assured that everything was moving smoothly towards the Good Friday start of the Games at the National Sports Centre. Tickets, she disclosed, would go on sale at Shell and Esso service stations from Monday, priced between $10 and $25, depending on the choice of seating and sessions (morning or afternoon).