Swimmers from Germany, Canada and the US will be competing at this weekend's Bermuda National Championships at the BASA pool.

Ben Smith, the Aquatics Manager and national coach, said Bermuda 2008 Olympic swimmer Roy-Allan Burch is back from his training programme in Germany and has brought back with him some of his team-mates to give the local swimmers some more competition.

Also featured will be guest swimmers from Canada and the US who wil help to push the local swimmers to even faster times.

The championships start this evening at 6 p.m. and Smith said: "This will be a great opportunity for people to come out and see our local talent compete at a high level.

"We have had lots of success overseas over the last few seasons but it is always great to have our talent on display at home in front of the home crowd. We will have our Carifta medallists, elite athletes, Commonwealth Games team and future swimming stars all competing this weekend."

And Smith noted that BASA have a new sponsor.

"We are very pleased to have CCS as our new sponsor for this year's National Championships. We have been working hard to make this a very exciting and successful weekend. This will be the last local meet of the season and we can expect some very fast swimming.

"This will be the last chance for some swimmers to qualify for overseas meets such as CISC and Coral Springs and for our elite athletes to test themselves out before travelling to compete against the top swimmers in our region."

Some of Bermuda's rising stars are ready to challenge the senior swimmers.

"This is an open meet and will see most of Bermuda's top swimmers duelling. This year relays have been added to the meet which should bring even more excitement and spirit to the event.

"The swimmers have been preparing all year for the chance to test themselves and will be excited to have lots of support on deck to watch them race. If you have never been to see swim meet this would be a great one to see.

"These swimmers have trained for hundreds of thousands of miles in the pool and have spent many mornings and weekends doing laps while most people are still sleeping to prepare for an event like this.

"I know that all the coaches in Bermuda are proud to see what our athletes can achieve at a meet like this. Let's hope there will be lots of personal best times and that maybe some records will fall."

Tomorrow and Sunday the prelims will start at 9 a.m. with the finals starting at 5.30 p.m.