Roy-Allan Burch, the Bermuda swimmer, has targeted a comeback from a lengthy injury lay-off in front of his own fans at the Arena Pro Swim Series Charlotte in late spring.

The SwimMac Carolina swimmer ruptured both his patella tendons after falling during a training session in April last year, which ruled him out of last summer’s Pan Am Games in Toronto.

SwimMac Carolina will host the fifth stage of the Arena Pro Swim Series at the renovated Mecklenburg County Aquatic Centre from May 12 to 15.

“Roy is seeing a lot of progress in his training right now and is looking to really have a top performance at Charlotte Ultra Swim,” Ben Smith, the Bermuda coach, said.

“He feels it’s a great opportunity for him to do it because the Charlotte crowd has become a home crowd for him now.”

Burch competes in the 50 and 100 metres freestyle, as well as the 50 butterfly.

He holds the national long-course records for the 50 and 100 metre freestyle, 50 butterfly and 50 backstroke.

If all goes accordingly the two-times Olympian hopes to hit the qualifying mark for this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio at May’s Arena Pro Swim Series Charlotte.

“Roy is looking to try and hit the qualifying times, and all indications are that he’s heading in the right direction to be able to at least hit the ‘B’ cut,” Smith said.

“Obviously his original goal was to hit the ‘A’ qualifying time, which puts him in the top 20 in the world.

“But with the setback of the injury, the fact that he’s still battling to hit the ‘B’ cut is pretty amazing, and he’s pretty confident right now that he’s going to be able to do it.”

Whatever happens, Burch has until the first week of June at the Bermuda National Swimming Championships to hit his mark. Burch hopes to have qualified before then, or at least reached the standard the Bermuda Olympic Association set for a swimmer to be invited to be a part of the squad.

The Arena Pro Swim Series features the world’s best swimmers competing for $350,000 in overall prize money. Swimmers may earn awards for top-three finishes in all individual Olympic events across the series.

At each meet, $1,000 will be provided for a first-place finish, $600 for second and $200 for third.

In addition to the single-event prize money, the overall male and female winners of the season-long series will earn a $10,000 bonus.