Four years ago swimmer Stephen Fahy travelled to the Atlanta Olympics as a spectator, his bid to make the Bermuda team having fallen short by a finger tip. He vowed then there would no further near misses. And that promise was fulfilled a year ago when Fahy booked his ticket to Sydney, shaving almost a second off his personal best in the 100 metres butterly to become the first-ever Bermudian to reach a Pan-Am Games final. Now with the first of his two Olympic events -- he will also compete in the 200 metres Individual Medley -- just two days away, the Yale student believes he can swim even faster.

While at 22 years-old he might be something of a grandad among today's teen torpedoes, Fahy's living proof that you get out of a sport only as much as you're prepared to put in. And under the watchful eye of veteran Frank Keefe, a former US Olympic coach, he's put in plenty during the last year. A string of national records have fallen along the way, although of little consequence to the former Saltus all-rounder whose focus has remained firmly on his trip Down Under. At the NCAA Championships earlier this year he clipped an incredible five seconds off his own IM record to clock 2:01.85. It was good enough for just 28th place. As such, he's under no illusion about the task at hand. At a meet which is already being dominated by the Australians and their arch rivals, the Americans, Fahy's goals are purely personal. Medals don't even figure in the equation. "I can't worry about what other people are doing. I'm only concerned about my times,'' he says. "And if they're good enough to get me out of the heats, fair enough.'' Such is the format for swimming, Fahy could win his heat and still fail to advance. Only the fastest 16 times from the heats go through to the semi-finals, regardless of position.

With the Sydney entry perhaps more formidable than any before it, a place in the semis would represent a monumental achievement for the young Bermudian.

Observers here believe the swimming competition is the most fierce ever held and that assessment is being backed up by the astonishing regularity in which world and Olympic records have been falling since the first event on Saturday.

But at what is likely to be his first and only Olympic meet, Fahy feels he's done everything possible to reach peak fitness. "The training's been going very well,'' he says. "I think I'm better than a year ago. I've had another year of training and it's been a pretty tough summer as regards training.

"Everything's gone well. We'll just see how it goes when the competition starts.'' Fahy opens with the 200IM heats on Wednesday morning, hoping to earn a spot in the evening semi-finals. The final's slated for the following day and although it's highly unlikely Fahy will be among the last eight, he'll be back in the pool that day anyway for the 100 butterfly heats. "As fas as getting into a semi-final, it's going to be really tough,'' he admits. "I just can't think about that. I can only try and swim as fast I can. "Some of the top swimmers are only going to be doing just enough to qualify in the heats, so it's difficult to say what it's going to take.'' Fahy's own targets are his national records of 2:01.85 for the 200 IM and 56.31 for the 100 'fly.

"I definitely want to go under both of those. It's been going well in training. I'm pretty confident I can do it. I've had a very solid summer.

"Now the hard's work done. All I can do is rest and stay off my feet as much as possible.'' SWIMMING SW