Roy-Allan Burch, Bermuda’s top swimmer, returned to winning ways at the weekend at the Sunbelt Championships in North Carolina.

Competing in the 50?metres and 200 metres freestyle, Burch claimed victories in both events after competing at the Championships at short notice.

More than satisfied with his showing considering he had only two days to prepare, Burch was particularly encouraged with his time in the 200 metres, a race he has not done in more than two years.

“I actually didn’t know I was going to be racing this meet until about two days before,” Burch said.

“The coaches decided to put me in the 200 freestyle which is a longer race for me. It’s been many years since I have raced one, and I was honestly thinking that it would be a lot more painful than it was.

“It’s reassuring to know that I have solid energy systems to execute some good sprint workouts, but I need to spend a lot more time on my kicking and top-end speed.”

Racing in the men’s 24-29 age group, Burch stopped the clock in 20.44sec in the 50 free, beating John Long (20.69sec) and Christopher Harrigan (22.55), who finished second and third. After his win in the 50 metres, Burch had an outstanding performance in the 200, winning in 1min 44.85sec.

Burch was pushed again by Harrigan who was later disqualified, leaving Davis Murphy to claim second in 2:08.88.

“It was a pretty large spread of competition,” Burch added. “I think I was expected to be the fastest in the 50 free, but I didn’t know what would happen to me in the 200.

“I just went out comfortably and tried my best to hold on.

“I’m always ready to compete on short notice. We are expected to be able to get up on the blocks and race any day of the week.

“Short notice only becomes an issue when you don’t know the format of the meet, such as figuring out when you can warm up and those kinds of things can make you anxious.”

Burch said he could take plenty of positives from his times as he steps up his preparations for this year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. “The Commonwealth Games will be tough, but I’m happy about the track that I am on heading into it,” he said.

“Being able to get through the rounds at the Games without using to much gas will be important for competing for a medal.”

The Commonwealth Games swimming events will be held at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre in the East End of Glasgow.

Earlier this month, Burch competed at the Arena Grand Prix, Texas.

It was the first time that Burch had competed since making minor altercations to his strokes during the off-season. He came seventh in the 50 A final, eighth in the 100 C final and picked up win in the 400 freestyle relay.

After the Texas meet, Burch said: “I was able to make some changes but will need to go back and work on a few more things to keep moving forward.

“The coaches were happy with my performances and I’m happy to be moving in the right direction.”