because of a back injury.

The 22-year-old was due to represent the Island in the Europe Dinghy class in the Games, which start in Canada in less than two weeks.

But a painful suspected slipped disc has left her unable to sail for several weeks and forced her to miss last weekend's National Dinghy Championships.

There will be no replacement for Cooper, meaning the Island will be taking only four sailors to Winnipeg instead of five.

Cooper has been unlucky with international competitions, having missed the 1995 Pan-Ams in Argentina because of first-year exams in university and last year's CAC Games in Venezuela because she was away in Europe.

Her previous misfortunes have only added to the heart-breaking disappointment of missing out once more.

"I was really excited about the Pan-Ams,'' said Cooper. "I was supposed to spend all summer training in Canada, but I only lasted a month and then I came home miserable because I couldn't sail.

"Some days I think the injury's not so bad, then the next day I can't walk.

Sometimes I lose the feeling in my legs.

"It's been bothering me since October and I've been on the water for a month, then off it for two weeks, then on and off again. But now the pain is definitely getting worse every day and I can't even go out for a pleasure sail.'' Cooper has undergone massage and acupuncture treatment in Bermuda without success.

She has now secured an appointment -- for the day before the start of the Pan-Am sailing competition -- for a magnetic resonance imaging scan in a Boston hospital which will determine the exact nature of her injury.

Tim Patton, president of the Bermuda Sailing Association, said Cooper would not be replaced.

"The qualification standards are quite structured and as each different class is a completely different discipline, we will not have anybody to put in at the last minute,'' said Patton.