Bermuda climbed the 2003 Island Games medal table with the young swimmers boosting the total to 12 last night.

They finished the day in fifth spot after scooping three gold, one silver and two bronze medals as well as blasting Island Games and Bermuda national records in the process.

The men's 4x50 metres freestyle relay team of Ronald Cowen, Graham Smith, Michael O'Connor and Roy Allen Burch brought home gold - breaking the Beau Sojeur pool record, Island Games record and Bermuda national record, and that was after setting the previous record in the heat.

Their winning time in the final was one minute, 36.88 seconds.

Kiera Aitken also broke the pool record in the women's 100m backstroke and set a new Bermuda record for the distance.

A delighted Aitken said: "It felt really good, it has been such a good atmosphere and so exciting."

Cowen added to his medal haul with a gold in the men's 200m freestyle (1:54.89) and a bronze in the 100m butterfly. Graham Smith took bronze in the 50m breaststroke (31.44) and Ashley Aitken won silver in the women's 50m butterfly (29.30).

Elsewhere, the basketball team had a successful afternoon against Jersey, the men's volleyball players ground out a victory in a gruelling match against Gotland and the women lost 3-1 to Aland.

The men's basketball team, competing in their first senior international competition, put the defeat by the Cayman Islands behind them and racked up a 120-38 score against Jersey.

Coach Roderick Spencer said they were in line for a medal position and needed to mount an impressive score in case it came down to a tie situation with the Cayman Islands or Gibraltar.

"They have done very well today," he said. "All the players picked up their game and they put in a good performance. It was a good team effort.

"We got off to a good start (against Gibraltar) and played a hard game but then we seemed to run out of gas against Cayman."

He said the game against Gibraltar was very physical and came on Sunday afternoon, with the Cayman match following on the Monday morning.

Bermuda now have a day to recover before a Thursday morning meeting with the Isle of Man.

Spencer added that, in their first Island Games, Bermuda had found out very quickly what was required of them on the court. He said that the reception and support, not just from other Island athletes but from other islands, had been tremendous.

"Everyone has been so friendly, it reminds me of home."

The men's volleyball team continued their impressive form, putting in a gritty performance to see off Gotland in a four-set thriller. They eventually triumphed 3-1 after losing the first set, and having to grind out the rest of the sets.

At the end of the day's play they were second in their group after three wins and one loss.

Coach Jon Gazzard, who suffered a head injury during the game, said the men's passion play paid off with them eventually triumphing 27-25 in the final set.

He said: "The guys erupted from the bench when we won, you would have thought we had won the gold medal.

"It was a real test but we have really come together as a team."

Player Andrew Soares said the team were becoming more mentally focused and were able to dig deep in the Gotland match, coming from behind on several occasions to eventually triumph.

"Mark Hamilton was inspirational in his speeches during the breaks, especially when we were down in the fourth game, it really brought the team together. Everybody knew what we had been working towards during the last year - we are here to win," he said.

"We had great support and that made a huge difference."

They are now heading for a crunch game with Guernsey today which Soares admitted would be a huge test of character for the team.

"If we beat Guernsey then we will be in the semi-finals. It is the biggest game so far and we need to be focused from the start."

Last night, the women's volleyball team played Finnish island Aland. They lost 3-1 but played superbly and pushed their rivals all the way, losing the final set 27-29.

Out on Guernsey's west coast, the archery team of Paul Harshaw, Irena Peti and Jeane Butterfield took part in the men and women's single recurve 30 metre contest.

David Hesketh dropped out of the competition to become team manager in order to assist the other members. He said the Games had proved an illuminating experience as they now realised what was required in top class competition.

"This is what we had come to find out," he said. "It has been quite an eye opener. You can read the magazines and see the pictures but until you are here, you don't know."

Butterfield finished a credible eighth with 893 points in a field of 16 and Irena Peti finished 13th with 787. Paul Harshaw was in 27th place with 739 points. It is the first time Bermudian archers have competed in an international competition and it is the first ever competition for Irena Peti.

Later, Butterfield said she was hopeful she would make the semi-finals after beating a Faroe Island's archer who was in the medals yesterday.

Hesketh said the friendliness of the other teams had been fantastic, and many had helped Bermuda with equipment failures. But, he added it was evident that they needed a full-time team manager in such events.

Bermuda are now setting their sights on the 2005 Island Games in Shetland and are bringing in an overseas coach to help the team.

Today, Bermuda will be hoping for more gold in the cycling when they take part in the road race. It will be their last chance as most of the team leave tomorrow to take part in the world championships in Switzerland.

The badminton players will be hoping for individual and doubles success when they resume play, and the two table tennis players will be back in action in the singles competition.

The basketball team have a rest day, and both the men's and women's volleyball teams will be hoping to put one over Games hosts Guernsey in separate games.

Bermuda's gymnasts will be hoping for a first place in the women's beam, floor, asymmetric bars and vault competition.

The archery continues and the swimmers will also be taking part in heats for finals later today.