Competing on home soil always gets Roy-Allan Burch’s juices flowing.

And the two-times Bermuda Olympic swimmer says the Validus Bermuda National Championships, which commenced last evening at the National Sports Centre, will not be any different.

The SwimMac Carolina Elite Team swimmer has returned home from his training base in North Carolina for the four-day event to showcase his skills in the 50 metres and 100 metres freestyle, which he holds the national records in.

“I am always excited to come back home and race,” Burch said. “It is a huge boost to my season to be able to race in my own element.”

This year marks the first time that the Validus Bermuda National Championships has been held on a long course at the Aquatic Centre. And Burch, 28, is looking forward to the historic occasion.

“It is the first time the competition will be long course and the first time I will race long course in Bermuda, so it is very exciting,” he said. “I do have some expectations for this weekend, but it is mainly to execute my races well. Put together solid morning swims, but really improve on my night swims and focus and dial into what I need to accomplish.

“I have been putting together a good front half of my race or a good back half, but the main goal is to put it all together.”

The national championships will mark the second time this year that Burch has returned to compete in a local event, after his appearance at the Schroders Spring Championships at the BASA Pool in March, when he set national records in the 50 backstroke and 50 freestyle finals.

More recently, Burch gave a reminder of the significant strides that he has made since joining SwimMac Carolina’s Elite Team a year ago by posting a blistering 22.99sec en route to qualifying for the 50 free A final at last month’s Arena Grand Prix at Charlotte. The event was held at his team’s headquarters at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Centre.

His impressive time was the sixth fastest during the preliminary heats, beating out the likes of Cullen Jones, his SwimMac team-mate who is a multiple Olympic medal-winner and the United States 50 freestyle record-holder.

“The Charlotte Grand Prix was our final evaluation meet going into the summer, so my training regime in the water has completely changed,” Burch said. “I have started to get some recovery swimming within the week which is much needed for me.

“My resting cycle for Commonwealth Games will need to be at the longer end of a taper, as I have put in an extensive amount of work in the water and gym this season.”

Burch has set his sights on a podium finish at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next month. Burch met the Games qualifying standard twice last year — at the World Championships in Barcelona and the Genoa 40 Trofeo meet in Italy.

Competition at the NSC continues this evening at 6.00.