Bermuda swimmers have continued to rewrite the record books and set personal best times over the past two weeks in Britain, Canada and the United States.

At the 109th edition of the Eastern Interscholastic Swimming and Diving Championships, held over the weekend at LaSalle University's Kirk Natatorium in Massachussetts, the ever-improving Nick Thomson snatched gold as he won the 50-yards freestyle in convincing fashion with a time of 21.1 seconds.

Earlier in the 200 yards freestyle relay, Thomson clocked an even faster time of 20.97 while leading off the team.

It marked the first time a Bermudian has won gold at the prestigious competition – widely regarded as the top high school meet in the United States, drawing from schools across the eastern US seaboard.

Traditionally the meet, held in a pool measured in yards and not metres, has seen many national high school records tumble.

In another closely fought final, Thomson placed fifth in the 100 yards.

Thomson competes for one of the top swimming high schools in the US, Mercersburg Academy, and apart from his individual success, he also contributed to the victory of his school in the 4x50 freestyle relay.

His 50 freestyle victory has seen him earn a berth for the FINA World Championships to be held in Rome this July.

He will be joined by fellow Bermudian Rebecca Sharpe, who also made the cut for Rome with a superb swim in the 100 yards backstroke.

Dipping under the standard required by two one hundredths of a second, Sharpe, representing the Peddie School, clocked 57.64 to finish in fourth place.

She also made the 'C' final in the 50-yard freestyle, finishing 16th overall.

In her first year attending the Baylor School, Nicole Yearwood made the 'C' final in both the 100 and 200 freestyle events, finishing in 17th and 18th place respectively.

Bermuda's participation at the meet was rounded out by Claire Hirschberg, representing the Lawrenceville School, who swam in the 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke.

Baylor won both the men's and women's team competitions followed by Peddie in second place for women and third for men. Thomson's Mercersburg placed fourth in the men's competition and fifth in the women's.

Meanwhile, competing in the Speedo Eastern Canadian Short Course Championships in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Jason Mastalir set two Bermuda records and three age group records.

Eighteen-year-old Mastalir lowered the 400 metres freestyle Bermuda record by 1.54 seconds and the 17-18 boys' record by a massive five seconds.

He then dropped the record further in the final by breaking the four-minute barrier with a time of 3:59.61, placing him fifth overall – a personal best by almost six seconds. It was the first time a Bermuda swimmer had gone under the four-minute mark in the event.

In the 200m backstroke, Mastalir was timed in 2:04.59 to win the consolation final and set a new Bermuda and 17-18 boys' age group record.

Both times qualified him to compete at the Canadian Spring Nationals at the University of Toronto to be held from March 11-14.

Mastalir rounded out the four-day competition with another record in the 200m freestyle in the 17-18 boys' age group. In the final he clocked 1:54.24 to place 13th overall.

He will be representing his overseas club at the Quebec Provincial Championships in Trois Rivieres where he is seeded first in the 200 backstroke, second in the 200 and 400 freestyle events and third in the 100 backstroke.

Also In the United States, 16-year-old Nicole Yearwood, representing Baylor School, competed at the TISCA Championships where she set several personal best times, while meeting and surpassing the qualifying standard for the Island Games.

Over the other side of the Atlantic at the British Universities and Colleges Long Course Swimming Championships held at Ponds Forge in Sheffield, held from February 13-15, 18-year old Lara Loescher set an age group record in the 17-18 girls' 50 metre butterfly preliminary heat of 31.04 seconds. She then lowered that record in the final to 30.98, giving her a 10th place finish overall.

Loescher represented Bristol University where she is in her first year of studies

In local competition at the BASA pool over the weekend, Ashley Yearwood achieved her second qualifying time for the Island Games to be held in Aland, in the 100 metres freestyle.

Stephanie Myles also achieved a second qualifying time in the 800 metres freestyle to qualify for the CARIFTA Swimming Championships to be held in April in Aruba, where she will be joined by Thomson, Sharpe and the Yearwoods.