Kiera Aitken has been in fine form in recent weeks, becoming the first Bermudian female to break the one minute mark in the 100 metres backstroke.

The Olympian set the new record at the Spanish short course Nationals in Madrid, where she also broke a host of other records.

Aitken set her first record in the 50m back with a 27.72 that netted her a bronze medal finish. Next up was her main event, the 100m back where in the preliminaries she became the first Bermuda female to break the one minute mark with a time of 59.87.

In the final she lowered that time to 59:31, and then rounded out the backstroke events with a 2:09.09 in the 200m in which she took two clear seconds off the previous record. The swimmer will be back on the Island today and tomorrow at the Mailboxes Unlimited Winter Age Groups.

And she will be staying here to join fellow Olympian Roy Allan Burch and the other members of Bermuda's World Championship team in a 12-day intensive training camp over the Christmas break.

Burch has been busy in his first few months in Germany. He enjoyed three impressive swims this past weekend in the 50, 100 free and the 50 fly. He finished first in his events and was very close to his best times.

The meet this weekend will end the local competition for 2009 and should prove to be a good test of how well training has progressed so far this season.