Bermuda's former indoor world champion triple jumper Brian Wellman remains confident he can again scale the heights that once saw him ranked among the top four around the globe.

The 33-year-old believes a managerial change will help him in his quest to regain such prominence, following a forgettable 2000 campaign marked by poor showings and dubiously topped off by elimination at the qualifying stage of the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.

"It was more of a managerial thing than anything else. That and not being able to find meets to compete in on a regular basis were my biggest obstacles last year,'' explained Wellman, who split with his agent midway through the 2000 season.

"I was in good practice shape which makes it frustrating, because I had some good practices, but I wasn't in meet shape, so I turned around with nowhere to go.

"It wasn't a matter of health or shape or the way that I jumped, rather it was that I wasn't doing it . .. and for triple jump that is big-time, because it's a rhythm thing. If you don't compete on a regular basis, it's next to impossible to get into competition shape, you can't do that in practice.'' Wellman had harsh words for the ruling athletics body, IAAF, who appeared to hold little regard for the discipline, despite it being installed as a legitimate Grand Prix event.

He said that it seemed most meets were dependent on the decision of world record holder, Jonathan Edwards of Britain, whether triple jump actually took place or was simply scrapped.

"Even though triple jump was Grand Prix last year, there wasn't a lot that actually took place, because if Jonathan (Edwards) wasn't jumping they didn't have it,'' said Wellman, who finished second to Edwards when he smashed the world record at the World Outdoor Championships in Gothenburg in 1995.

"It was a situation where they simply did not care about it, and if you look at the triple jump results for the whole year, everybody's performances were horrible, relatively. Nobody really jumped far outside of the Games, and this was because of the lack of meets.

"You had one meet here and then went home for a couple weeks, two meets here, that's not the way to get any rhythm. I know that, in my best years, when I was jumping far, I had tons of meets and I'd get into a rhythm.

"I guess the best analogy is playing golf, where, if you don't play for a while your game goes away ... if you don't use it you lose it.'' Bottom line is that Wellman sees his fuel tank as being half full rather than half empty, despite his advanced age relative to his chosen discipline and will entertain no talk of imminent retirement. And while not ready to reveal plans for a fourth Olympic bid, he does have his sights set on this year's World Indoor and Outdoor Championships, as well as the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

The indoor event is set for March in Portugal, and it is Wellman that actually holds the meet record of 17.72 metres, which he recorded back in 1995 in Barcelona, Spain.

"Age is more a motivational thing for me,'' said Wellman. "Perhaps the most frustrating factor -- the one that would get me out of the sport -- is whether it's feasible for me to continue from a financial standpoint.

"The way for me to make some money is to go to Europe, but if I don't jump enough then, obviously, I'm not going to make the money.

"The other sad thing is that, after the Olympic Games, shoe companies pretty much cut everybody off, unless you were `The Man'. So, in terms of my outside sponsorship I don't really have much at all, it's just the Elite Athletes Fund, and my Oakley sponsorship, which I need to renegotiate.'' In fact, Wellman firmly believes he can still eclipse the world indoor record and go beyond 57 feet.

Looking ahead: Triple jumper Brian Wellman refuses to entertain thoughts of retirement despite a disappointing season in 2000.