There was further disappointment for Bermudian swimmer Craig Roberts as he crashed out in the heats of the men's 100 metres freestyle at the Complejo de Piscinas on the third day of the Games of the Sun here yesterday.

The tall 24-year-old, who carries not an ounce of spare flesh, finished last in the first of the three heats in a time of 58.19 seconds, a little more than three seconds outside his personal best.

It was another blow to Roberts, who was trying to regain some confidence after a disastrous performance in his opening event -- the 100m breaststroke -- on Sunday.

That showing, in what was considered his strongest event -- and the one he hoped would qualify him for the Commonwealth Games -- left him facing the possibility of making up the numbers in his remaining three swims.

A good heat yesterday might have been some consolation, but it was not to be and it was a despondent Roberts who talked to The Gazette afterwards.

Giving the impression of a man searching for reasons rather than excuses to explain his form, he said: "Maybe it's the lack of swimming in a 50 metre pool. It's a nice pool but it's not got much clarity. It's very murky and the temperature is way too high. It's warmer in the water than out.

"Because of that it's as if it doesn't wake you up when you first dive in.

It's very disappointing again.'' He admitted it was hard to focus on the remaining events after his failure in the breaststroke.

"It's hard to keep your concentration,'' he said. "In fact, I've tried to stay away from the pool to take my mind off the whole thing. Yesterday, I went to watch the cycling.'' Roberts' time was the second slowest among the three heats and it may be that his age is against him. He is five years older than the man who recorded the fastest time in the heats, Cuba's Marcos Hernandez, whose time of 50.46 was only seventeen hundredths of a second outside the CAC Games record.

And the youngest competitor in his heat was 15-year-old Barbadian Cliff Gittens, who finished just ahead of Roberts in 57:04.

Roberts' team-mate Tamika Williams was at the pool to offer words of consolation yesterday, but it is her turn to come under the microscope again when she competes in the 100m butterfly this morning.

It is the second of her three events in the competition, culminating in her strongest event, the 50m freestyle, on Friday.

She will be looking for a time of 28:16 or better to give her a chance of going to the Commonwealth Games.

CRAIG ROBERTS -- last in the 100 metres freestyle heat SWIMMING SW