Despite what he considered a poor performance in his first appearance on the Olympic stage, Bermudian equestrian Tim Collins is still within striking distance of his goal.

Overnight he was 42nd out of 75 riders striving for glory in the three-day eventing competition after the dressage concluded yesterday.

Not at all pleased with what he and his mount Delton Magna, for whom he had high hopes, produced at the Olympic Equestrian Centre, the rider said they must fare far better in today?s cross-country and the showjumping tomorrow to stand any chance of figuring among the top 20.

Facing a three-member panel of judges in one of the Olympics most elegant and refined disciplines ? and one featuring the rarity of men and women competing together ? Collins averaged 59.40 penalty points to be lingering just outside the top half of the field.

Nicolas Touzaint of France leads with the lowest penalty score of 29.40 with Philippa Funnell of Britain in second on 31.40 points.

?I think if I go fast tomorrow I can still finish quite high up. I mean 59 is middle of the road but there will be a lot of time faults out there and there?s going to be a lot of show jumps coming down as well,? said Collins in reference to the remaining aspects of the competition.

?I?ve seen the cross-country course now and it?s nice, though the first water jump is very difficult.

?I haven?t made my mind up whether I?m going to go straight there or take the option but, for the rest of the course, you just get stuck in and jump it.?

Analysing his showing in the parade ring in the rural environs of Markopoulo ? a half-hour drive northeast of Athens ? the immaculately attired horseman said that from the outset he sensed something was wrong with Delton Magna though they had a great warm-up earlier in the morning.

?I just lost him from the entrance. When I entered the ring he just started slowly falling apart. This wasn?t how we wanted it to be.

?It was very nerve-racking and I think it came out in the test that I was very nervous.

?The horse made a few mistakes which I didn?t anticipate and I also didn?t ride as well as I could have done.

?I?m fairly disappointed to be honest because I know the horse can do a test which is 20 marks better than that,? he stated.

?I don?t know, it just fell apart as it went on and on. We had the perfect warm-up. He was fantastic this morning but sometimes it comes off and sometimes it doesn?t. It didn?t come off today.?

Regarding his score, Collins agreed ?it was a fair mark for the test? and declared he would now set his sights primarily on becoming the first Bermudian to complete Olympic eventing unscathed.

?I think what we try and do now is complete the Olympic Games because there hasn?t been a Bermudian rider to actually finish without a problem cross-country or knocking a few show jumps down.

?So it would be nice to put up a good performance for the rest of it,? noted the 28-year-old, making his debut.

The dressage test is judged on technical and artistic merit in three tests ? Grand Prix, Grand Prix Special (set movements) and Freestyle (a choreographed routine in rhythm to music) ? and is the first of the three eventing components.

Today?s cross-country segment is a 5.7 kilometre course involving 45 jumps to be completed within a specified time.

Collins will start his ride today at 11.06 a.m. and must be finished by 11:15.46. Tomorrow?s showjumping finale will feature 12 to 15 obstacles including triple bars, simulated stone walls and gates. In eventing both winning riders and horses are named as medallists.