Roy-Allan Burch, the Bermuda swimmer, hopes subtle changes made to his stroke will help to give him an extra edge when he takes to the pool in Austin, Texas, this weekend.

The freestyle specialist is putting the final touches to his preparations before his first competition of the season, the Arena Grand Prix, at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Centre.

Burch is ready to see how he fares with the adjustments made by his coach, David Marsh, for faster times.

“[Training] is going well,” Burch said. “My coach is hitting us pretty hard, so I’m not sure what kind of rest we will get before the end of the week.

“I’m looking for some good swims, anyway, as I have been improving in some small aspects that I’ve been working on.

“I got a new tip last week, which I will start applying in the build-up to the first meet to help get that much more out of my stroke.”

Burch, who hopes to represent Bermuda at this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, has faith that the slight alterations made under Marsh will benefit him in the long run.

Marsh, an internationally renowned coach, has worked with 47 Olympians from 19 different countries. He also led the Auburn University men’s team to seven NCAA national championships between 1997 and 2007, and the women’s team to five national championships from 2002 to 2007.

“I’m feeling good about my details lately,” said Burch, a two-times Olympian. “Coach Marsh just got back from Colorado where he was watching the No?1 US sprinter, Nathan Adrian, train.

“He noticed one thing that I could apply, so he has put me through my paces and it shouldn’t take long to adopt it [for better times].

“I’ve had about a week of thinking about it, the second week to continue to apply and, by the third week, I should have it down and used to it.”