Avoiding stress could prove to be the thin line between success or failure for sailors Jesse and Zander Kirkland at the 2012 Summer Olympics in England.These are the sentiments of past Olympic sailor Alan Burland who says the mental stress associated with competing at this level can take a heavy toll on athletes.“One of the key things for Jesse and Zander is for them to keep the pressure off,” said Burland, who represented Bermuda at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, California in the Tornado. “There’s more pressure on Olympians than at any other sport level and the key is to keep the pressure off.“The other athletes from bigger nations will have tremendous stress and pressures put on them by the media, their sporting organisations and the village or city that they are from and all of that is a distraction. But the beauty of coming from a smaller place like Bermuda is you don’t have that kind of revved-up hype and I’ve urged Jesse and Zander to take time to get into a quiet space and relax because the adrenalin really gets going during the Olympics.”The Kirklands are competing in the double-handed 49er skiff at the 2012 Olympics. They qualified for the Games after finishing ninth at last May’s 49er World Championships in Croatia.Burland is optimistic that the brothers can hold their own in the UK.“I think they are in a very good place and if they can keep this pressure off and get a little bit of luck I think they are going to be right in there,” he said.Olympic sailing will be held in Weymouth where the 49er fleet will compete in 15 races within a eight-day period to ultimately determine the ten teams that will advance to the medal race.“Sailing is a like a series of marathons, it’s not like the 100 metre dash where you have a couple of heats and it’s all over quickly,” Burland said. “Sailing is all this preparation and then there’s the race.“You’ve got to put together consistent finishes over the entire period of the race so it’s not about doing really well once or twice, you need to maintain a good level of performance over a sustained period to be in the medal hunt.”As with any other regatta, Burland said conducting regular checks on rigging is vital.“It’s imperative to check the boat before and after racing just to make sure there are no wires frayed, loose bolts or ripped sails,” he added. “All that stuff has to be looked over and checked very carefully.“Sailing is a very complex sport because you’ve got all of these variables you have to manage. But Jesse and Zander know their roles and are experienced, mature, sensible and get on well as brothers.”Burland said it is an honour for any athlete to represent Bermuda at the Olympics.“There’s an incredible amount of pride and you are over the moon and walking on air,” he added. “It’s a fantastic, positive and uplifting sensation.”The Kirklands are the first Bermudian sailors to compete at the Summer Olympics since the 2004 Games in Athens, Greece.