Olympiad during the summer, two young Bermudians also travelled there to take part in the International Youth Camp, staged in conjunction with the Games every four years.

Twenty-year-old Caitlin Garland, who is studying law at Durham University and 21-year-old equestrian Dale Rochester, who soon hopes to commence his show-jumping career in the US, were selected by the Bermuda Olympic Committee to represent Bermuda at this year's Camp, which aims to encourage understanding between different countries and cultures.

For three weeks they participated in a whirl of activities, highlighted, of course, by attendance at the Games.

"Some countries had large contingents at the Camp, so they had to choose who would get tickets for the special events. But as there was only Dale and me from Bermuda, I was able to go to the Opening Ceremony and Dale went to the Closing Ceremony. It was a great experience to be a part of that atmosphere.

I'll remember those fireworks and the lighting of the flame all my life,'' said Miss Garland.

They both managed to see most of the Bermuda events, apart from the sailing.

"We were almost jumping off our seats when Brian Wellman was doing his triple jump. We were so proud when Troy Douglas won his heat in the 400 metres and felt sad for him when he just missed the finals. We thought he and the swimmers did really well. And we saw Nicola De Sousa jumping in the three-day event -- it was a very gruelling course. The Olympic Village was like an armed fortress but we managed to get in and were able to meet Troy Douglas and some of the Bermuda sailing team there -- it was a marvellous atmosphere,'' she recalled.

It was not until they got to Barcelona that Caitlin Garland and Dale Rochester were able to fully appreciate the standards that athletes had to attain just to get there.

"I was really proud of our Bermudians,'' said Miss Garland, "especially when you saw how they, and the other smaller countries had to train and compete as true amateurs against bigger countries who were sponsored for everything. Even the other people in the Camp were all sponsored, and arrived with track-suits, bags, and so on. They were better equipped than lots of the competitors.'' Her main criticism of the Olympics was its increasing commercialism and a loss of the friendly spirit of competitiveness: "That whole thing with the basketball and the Dream Team is a prime example. We saw them play and the atmosphere was nowhere near as exciting as in the stadium events.'' Although the three-week Camp focused around Olympic events, there were also many cultural events organised, with various countries presenting evening concerts of traditional songs and dances.

"We joined in with the Caribbean crowd, who were great. The Antiguans had brought a set of steel drums, so we had a great time, and we also went on trips all around Catalonia, to countless festivals and museums with the Caribbean people. Dale and I also went on a tour into the Pyrenees, which we enjoyed as much as the Olympics.'' The Camp provided all sorts of facilities, swimming pool, organised games and workshops.

"But I'm not all that sure that the Camp really succeeded in bringing people together in the way it should have done. I think most of us were surprised at the way it was run. It was like a school summer camp, which we thought was a little out of place for people who were aged between 18 and 21. I was in a dormitory of ten, with one girl from Belize, three Canadians and five Germans.

The German girls talked only to each other -- in German,'' said Miss Garland.

This closing of the ranks attitude did not impress the young Bermudian who, before she went off to university in England, attended the United World College in New Mexico, where the entire emphasis of the educational programme is to foster a spirit of friendship and tolerance amongst young people from totally different cultures.

Caitlin Garland said she was grateful to have been chosen for the trip of a lifetime. "The expeditions around Spain were wonderful and the Olympics themselves were an experience which I'm sure I will never, ever forget. I think the main thing Dale and I came to appreciate was just how hard our athletes had to work. And when you consider the odds against them, you couldn't be anything but proud of all of them. For a tiny island like Bermuda, whose population is much smaller than most cities, it was an incredible achievement.'' INTERNATIONAL THREESOME -- Bermuda's representatives to the International Youth Camp, Dale Rochester (left) and Caitlin Garland (right) pictured in Barcelona with the leader of the UK delegation.