Overawed by the occasion at the Commonwealth Games, swimmer Kiera Aitken is ready to test the water once more on the international stage.

Aitken (19), a student at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, has just qualified to represent Bermuda at this year's World Championships and Pan-Am Games, setting national records in the process.

The Bermudian achieved the marks in the 50 metres and 100 metres backstroke at the Canadian Open Championships in Edmonton last month.

In the 50m backstroke she touched home in 29.45 seconds, a national record, Dalhousie record and a Nova Scotia record. Then in the 100m she finished in 1:02.52, again a national record, a Dalhousie record and a Nova Scotia record.

Those times just five months on from her appearance at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester demonstrate how Aitken has come on in a short space of time.

The teenager represented the Island in the 100m backstroke, 100m freestyle, 50m backstroke and 50m freestyle at the Manchester Aquatics Centre.

But the magnitude of the event which pitted her against some of the finest swimmers in the world clearly got to Aitken.

"Unfortunately, her 100m backstroke was her first event," said coach Kathy Cowen. "Looking back we can both laugh about it but at the time we weren't laughing.

"Kiera was absolutely beside herself. In fact, the organising committee at Commonwealth allowed me to take her all the way to the 'call room' (where swimmers prepare). She was in tears and was absolutely overwhelmed. The organisers actually let me walk with her onto the pool deck until she was in view of the cameras."

Once there Cowen said Aitken "completely fell apart".

"Her time for the 100m backstroke was atrocious," she said. "But it turned out to be a good learning experience. By the time she got to the 50m she was doing quite well and in fact posted a national record and made the semi-finals in that event. She ended up 14th overall which was a really good show."

Cowen said Aitken came away from Manchester determined to get better and better.

"At the end you can relax and look back, decide what you have learned, then move forward and set new goals," she said.

"She has done brilliantly since then. The 1:02 in the backstroke is actually three seconds inside the qualifying time for Pan-Am Games. Three seconds is a lot of time in swimming."

The World Championships are in July in Spain and they are quickly followed by the Pan-Ams in the Dominican Republic in August and Aitken will be training hard between now and then.

"She left Bermuda early going back on December 27 and she has done quite an intensive training camp at Dalhousie," said Cowen.

"She will continue to swim her normal practices and I would look for her to be back here by May.

"We will then go away to our regular meet at the Waterloo Invitational near Toronto after which she will come back and will probably train until the end of June."

Soon after Aitken will be part of the Bermuda squad which will travel to the Island Games in Guernsey.

"After that Kiera and (fellow swimmer) Ronald (Cowen) will go into long course training, perhaps in London and then it's straight on to Spain," said Cowen. "Once that is over I am hoping we can have some sort of a short break before going to the Dominican Republic."

Cowen said Aitken's ultimate aim was to fly the flag for Bermuda at next year's Olympic Games in Athens - a feat she believes her pupil is well capable of.

"Even though she is young she has a very good idea of what she is capable of and sets very high standards for herself," she said. "Ultimately, she will live up to those standards and I am sure Kiera will qualify for the Olympics."