Former US national indoor 60 metre record holder and current University of Tennessee assistant women?s athletics coach Caryl Smith took time out from her busy schedule last weekend to pass on a few pointers to some of the Island?s up and coming track and field prospects at Saltus Grammar School and the National Sports Centre.

Smith, considered one of the top start and acceleration coaches in the US, brought with her a wealth of knowledge and experience to the spring sprint clinic hosted by Mid-Island Striders.

?The information we learned was tremendous. A lot of it is not even utilised by other top coaches and definitely not in Bermuda,? explained Striders coach Bill Euler.

?We learned how to test stride length and stride frequency, how to properly set the blocks and be more explosive out of them and how to get to maximum velocity.?

The former US sprinter hails from Colorado and previously held indoor records in the 55 and 60 metre dashes.

Smith is also a two-time Colorado state champion in the 200 metres and a three-time winner in the 100 metres. She set records in all three events and went on to become a three-time All-American at UCLA.

Since retiring from competition Smith became a United States Track and Field (USTF) Level One certified coach for sprints and a Level Two certified coach for jumpers and she continues to serve as a sprints/hurdles clinician at the USATF Junior Elite Camp.

She is also an expert in the bio-mechanics of each event and has worked with programmes that graphically compare the mechanics of athletes with those of world record-paced athletes illustrated via a computer generated image.

Last March saw Masters coach Randy Huntington (coach of world long jump record holder Mike Powell) visit Bermuda to enlighten athletes on the methods of achieving maximum velocity and how to maintain it. His visit was also sponsored by the Striders.

And given the volume of new information which has been provided to some of the Island?s athletes, Euler reckoned it was time to take track and field in Bermuda to ?new heights.?

?We have learned a lot from both of these coaches and other clinics we have been to,? he said. ?And in the future we plan to bring coach Smith and other coaches to Bermuda for more clinics to continue helping local athletes.?