Games during the National Swimming Championships on the weekend at the BASA pool.

The four-member team of Stephen Fahy, Ronald Cowen, Matthew Hammond and Stephen Troake -- four fastest local finishers in the men's 100 metre freestyle final, achieved the mark on Sunday evening at the second attempt.

The first attempt to reach the qualifying mark of 3:31.56 at the beginning of the meet failed, despite the foursome being paced by a team of overseas swimmers. That attempt actually saw the team better the standard by two seconds, but one of the swimmers left the blocks prematurely during the changeover and the time did not count.

However, at the end of the meet the team tried again, this time with everyone cheering them on, and this time they equalled the mark with Troake producing an incredible time of 51.96 on the last 100 metres.

The team's achievement was even more remarkable, owing to the fact that they had all competed in a number of races prior to their second attempt. In two of those events, Fahy set a national record in the 100 metres backstroke and Matthew Hammond qualified for the Pan Am Games in the 200 metre freestyle in a time of 1:55.58.

Bermuda's swimmers were very fortunate in being given the opportunity to compete against a number of outstanding swimmers from overseas. Brendon Dedekind, of Florida State University and South Africa, is a silver medallist in the 1998 Commonwealth Games.

Dedekind, the fastest man in the world this year in the 50 metres freestyle, astounded onlookers by shattering all-comers record in the 50 and 100 metres freestyle, the 50 metres breaststroke and the 100 metres butterfly.

Alex Lopez, a member of Puerto Rico's 1009 Olympic team and currently a member of the University of Florida swim team, set all-comers records in the 200 metres breaststroke and the 200 metres individual medley.

The Brevard Swim Team of Florida sent a strong contingent, including Paige Kearns who is currently ranked in the top 10 in the US in the girls 15-16 age group, Leslie Heinricher, one of the top five distance freestylers in Florida in the girls 13-14 age group and Melissa Hatfield, the Florida State girls 15-16 finalist in the 200 metres butterfly.

Also competing were Oliver Heinricher, ranked in the top 16 in the US in the men's 15-16 1500 metres freestyle, Erik Moe, the Tennessee High School State champion in the 100 metres freestyle and West Harold, the Florida State finalist in the 100 and 200 metres breaststroke.

Brevard's swimmers won several of the individual events, and Kearns tied the women's all-comers record in the 100 metres freestyle.

The Region of Waterloo Swim Club of Ontario, Canada was well represented by Tom Fuke, a Breaststroker who has been competing in the National Championships for a number of years and by Jennifer Esford, a 15-year-old who set all-comers records in the 100 and 200 metres backstroke.

Stephen Fahy: Part of the 4x100 metres relay team that qualified for the Pan Am Games on the weekend.