NATIONAL track and field coach Gerry Swan has high hopes for Bermuda's budding stars this year when the CARIFTA Games are held in Trinidad and Tobago in April.

And Swan is also looking at athletes to shine at the IAAF World Youth Championships which are set for Sherbrooke, Canada during July as well as the Junior Pan American Games which will also be staged in July.

He said: "This year has the potential for being an exciting year for junior athletes in this region. Most of our athletes who competed at the 2002 CARIFTA Games are still eligible for the 2003 Games. There are also new athletes who have joined the national programme and some additional club athletes who recently joined the Bermuda Track and Field Association's national training squad. The potential for some new athletes on the 2003 CARIFTA team is there."

And with that in mind Swan said the 2003 season starts in ernest this weekend. "Two track and field meets have been scheduled this month - this Saturday (January 12) and also on Saturday January 25. We will have other meets in February and March."

The IAAF World Youth Championships cater to athletes who are 15, 16 and 17 years of age. All athletes under 20-years-old will be eligible for the Junior Pan American Championships in Barbados.

Swan said of the juniors: "Last year was a good year for our juniors who set personal best marks in domestic meets and at international competitions such as CARIFTA Games and Junior CAC Championships. They won medals at the international meets and also attracted the attention of US collegiate coaches. Some had offers of full athletic scholarships as they broke junior national records. In fact our juniors broke seven Junior National Records and three National Records in 2002.

"Zindzi Swan, who broke the Junior Women's National Record and Women's National Record in the high jump for the first time in 2001 (1.71 metres), raised the national records in each of those two categories three times during 2002. The new national marks now stand at 1.76 metres (5' 9.25") after raising her high jump mark by 16 centimetres (or six inches) during the past two years."

Zindzi Swan also had her name etched as the junior national record holder in the long jump with her 5.83 metres mark at the CARIFTA Games. That eclipsed the previous record mark (5.60 metres) that had been held by Edna-Mae Tuzo since 1986.

"She also won the gold medal on that occasion. And Brittney Marshall earned the Junior Women's National record in the discus event, at the Junior CAC Championships, with her gold medal performance of 38.46 metres, replacing the old mark of 37.06 metres set in 1981 by Sonya Smith." The names of Marshall and Smith are associated with another throwing event, the shot put, in which she displaced the record that Smith had set in 1979 (12.61 metres) with her 2000 mark of 12.70 metres at the Junior CAC Championships in Puerto Rico. James Bergl, a newcomer to junior international competitions, now shares the Junior Men's National Records in the shot put (14.22 metres) and discus (43.03 metres) with Gabriel Wilkinson. Bergl's achievements were made at the Junior CAC Championships last July.

Eleven junior athletes have broken a total of 19 records - 14 Junior National Records and five National Records - in recent years. Swan said that while records can be set by any eligible athlete, in any competition, subject to the IAAF rules, "an interesting fact that is noticed is that all the junior national records, that have been broken in recent years, have been achieved by athletes who train in the BTFA national programme".

Coach Swan said that he envisages no less than seven events could have new Junior National marks (and names) in 2003.

And the CARIFTA Games is becoming more important for Bermuda's young athletes, said Swan. "Those games continue to attract US college coaches who scout potential talent for their university track and field programmes. The year 2002 saw a number of university coaches show interest in some of our junior athletes, with the possibilities of athletic scholarships. In fact coaches have shown interest in at least five athletes. The strength of such interest can be demonstrated with the recent visits of a Recruiting Coordinator and a head coach, from two different NCAA Division I universities, to Bermuda with the sole purpose of recruiting one of our junior athletes. Those visits carry offers of full athletic scholarships with the hope that the athlete will commence studies at one of the universities in September 2003."

Swan said that "as has been the prudent practice for several years by the BTFA, junior athletes who aspire to be selected for the CARIFTA Games must train with the national squad for a period of time. The mandatory training period, for all junior athletes who aspire to be selected for the 2003 CARIFTA Games, commenced December 16 (2002). Those athletes who were not previously aware of this can still join the national training squad. The team will be selected in mid-March."

And the year 2004 will prove to be even bigger for Bermuda as the island hosts the CARIFTA Games - the first time it has done so since the mid-1980.