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Do or die days for Games hopefuls

This weekend represents the last chance saloon for Bermuda’s Olympic swimming hopefuls, writes Stephen WrightKiera Aitken, Lisa Blackburn and Julian Fletcher face qualification D-Day when they compete at their respective meets around the world, as they bid to join team-mate Roy-Allan Burch in London.Aitken won three medals at the recent Catalan Cup Absolute Swimming Championships in Spain but is yet to meet the qualifying standard, missing the mark in the 100 metres backstroke by a second.She will again be competing in Barcelona this weekend, while Blackburn and Burch will race in California, and Fletcher will look to secure his passage to London at the Trinidad National Championships.With the pressure on to perform, Bermuda coach Ben Smith hopes the trio can rise to the big occasion.“Both Julian and Lisa over the last few months have been getting progressively faster,” he said. “Julian broke the national record in the 100 metres breaststroke at the Speedo Grand Championships in California. Lisa’s in very good form so we’re hoping she can drop her time as well.“Although Kiera hasn’t been at the level she normally would at this time, her experience should allow her to get to where she needs to be.”Should they fail in their Olympic bid, the Bahamas National Championships on June 14 would provide a second bite of the cherry for the trio, although Smith said that ‘safety net’ was less than ideal.“The Olympic qualification deadline is June 17 and all the paperwork needs to be in over the next week; that’s what makes this weekend so important for our swimmers,” he said.