Sports Editor Adrian Robson, currently in Beijing, continues his profiles on members of Bermuda's Olympic squad.

Today he features the Island's two swimming representatives, Kiera Aiten and Roy Allen Burch, both of whom began their sporting careers as young children and have continued to compete both here and abroad for several years, taking part in a number of previous Games.

KIERA AITKEN

Age: 24

Event: 100 metres backstroke

Coach: Olympic coach Martin Allen

Olympic manager: Mary Beth Aitken

***

A former Bermuda Female Athlete of the Year, Aitken has been present at almost every major swimming event, including both the World Championships and the Olympic Games for the last decade.

Along with sister Ashley, she's been a prominent competitor in local pools since primary school and together they have smashed a slew of national records.

While the 100m backstroke is her favoured event, Kiera has also led the field in the 50m backstroke, 200m and in the 100 metres freestyle.

As a student at Dalhousie University, she earned high praise from swim coach David Fry who said: "If I could bottle a swimmer like Kiera, I would. She's the kind of swimmer every coach wants to coach - a very committed athlete, a very committed swimmer."

It was while studying in Nova Scotia that she qualified for the Athens Olympics in 2004. She also qualified for the World Championships, Commonwealth Games and Pan-Am Games, and has been almost a fixture in the Island's national swim team ever since.

At the Commonwealth meet in Manchester, England, in 2003 she competed in all events mentioned above.

Headlines such as "Kiera breaks another record" have been appearing in this newspaper ever since.

At the Worlds in Barcelona, Spain in 2003 she set a new 50 metres backstroke mark of 30.80 seconds and also lowered her PB in the 100m to 1:06.07.

At the Pan Ams in Santo Domingo in 2003 she brought that 100m record down again to 1:04.98.

Gold medals followed at the Caribbean Championships in 2004 where her 50m backstroke time continued to fall (30.55).

Her Olympic debut in Greece in 2004 saw her 100m record dip to 1:04.37 - half a second faster than her previous best.

It came as no surprise that she was named Female Athlete of the Year for 2004 at a ceremony early in 2005, which was to prove another stellar year.

Better was to follow at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006, where Aitken smashed the 30-second barrier in the 50m backstroke for the first time, hitting the wall in 29.99.

This year as she prepared for these Games, Aitken has competed overseas regularly, and was particularly impressive at the Spanish Nationals in Majorca where she almost qualified for the China Games, in which now competes as a wild card.

Her 100m record was again lowered to 1:04.16 - just shy of the Olympic standard of 1:03.86.

How she'd love to beat that time when she becomes the first Bermudian to compete here in Beijing on Sunday evening.

ROY ALLEN BURCH

Age: 22

Event: 100 metres freestyle

Olympic coach: Martin Allen

Olympic manager: Mary Beth Aitken

***

Like Kiera Aitken, Burch has found himself on top of the results sheet since an early age.

While the 100 metres freestyle is his preferred event, he was smashing records as a member of the Sharks Club when just eight-years-old in the 25 and 50 metres.

And ever since he's been travelling the world, competing at Pan Am and Commonwealth Games as well as World Championships, although his dream has always been to make the Olympics - a dream that will finally come true next Tuesday evening.

A successive of age group and national records have stamped his authority on the local swimming scene and although like Aitken he had to rely on a wild card to book his ticket to Beijing, there's no doubt he remains the king of freestyle in Bermuda.

At the Pan Ams last year he broke Bermuda's 50m freestyle record, finishing in 23.77 seconds. But at the same meet, could only manage 53.12 in the 100, well outside his best.

But it was in Melbourne, Australia, at the World Championships last year that he reached his peak, setting a new national 100m mark of 52.40, which still stands.

Studying at Springfield College in Massachussetts, he's been warming up for these Games at meets across the US, winning and setting records at the NEWMAC Championships which qualified him for the NCAA Championhips in both the 50 and 100 metres freestyle.

Now comes the ultimate test, lining up against the world's finest freestylers in an event that they've all been waiting for.