Swimmers Rebecca Sharpe and Nick Thomson both broke local age group records at the Junior Pan Pacific championships in Hawaii on Thursday.

Swimming in the opening heats of the 100 metres backstroke, Sharpe posted a time of one minute, 10.9 seconds ? marginally off her personal best.

Thomson, meanwhile, finished his 100 metres backstroke heat in 1:04.06, a three-tenths of a second improvement on his previous best.

Coach Ben Smith was happy with the efforts of two of the Island?s best young swimmers, but bemoaned the absence of a 50 metre pool in Bermuda which he said was stopping local swimmers reaching their full potential.

?We cannot continue to progress to the extent we could if we had a 50 metre pool,? he said.

?If we could only train extensively in the right facility for the upcoming international meets, I know we could be more competitive. We got here two days ago and we go straight into the competition. The last time these swimmers swam in a 50 metre pool was last August. I know if we swam this same event tomorrow, Rebecca and Nick would be even faster.?

This second edition of the Pan Pacific Championships features 11 countries and almost 200 of the best junior swimmers on the Pacific Rim.

Top swimming nations such as Australia and the US are prominently featured, while Japan, China, Mexico and Canada also have strong representation.