It was yesterday morning November 3rd that www.islandstats.com was first to report that Roy Allan Burch broke the Bermuda National Record during the Men’s 100m Freestyle competing in the 40th International Nico Sapio Trophy in Italy.
Burch traveled with his team Swim Mac Elite to Genova, Italy to compete in a Cup Meet. This is a start to their racing season, working toward next summer’s major games. Burch and his team have been training heavily for the last 10 weeks and this has been the first overseas opportunity to race under pressure.
Burch said, "Despite traveling almost 20 hours and having our first overseas competition for the year, coach still decided to work us hard the day we arrive and the night before the competition. I was so tired and my body was in so much pain but I have been training extremely hard so I can dig deep into my well of fitness."
The competition was two days but Swim Mac Elite only competed in the second day of competition. Burch competed in the 100m Butterfly which is an unusual event for him but was used as a warm up to get ready for the 100m Freestyle, which is one of Burch's main events.
Burch was able to swim a best time in the 100m Butterfly clocking a time of 56.83 finishing 19th overall in the morning but didn't make Finals.
The 100m Freestyle was only 30 minutes after his first event but Burch was able to step up and go a best time in this event, which meant he reset the Bermuda National Record from a 50.25 to a 49.94 on his way to winning Heat 5. This was Burch's first time under 50 seconds in the Short Course 100m Freestyle which is a significant mark. His time placed him 4th going into Finals with a solid chance to win at night.
"I was pleased with my morning swim. I had a few things to clean up in the race which was going to allow me to drop more time. My coach, David Marsh, gave me great feedback about a few changes to make in order to be faster at night. When I came back at night for warm up I reinforced the changes he had made and focused on applying them to my race," said Burch.
Burch swam out of lane six for finals. This is a great vantage point in the pool because it allows swimmers to keep track of the whole field. The race was tight as sprints usually are but Burch was able to move up two spots from his seed position sealing him a 2nd place finish and another New National record of 49.29.
Burch went on to say, "I had a good idea of where I was in the race. I could already see that I was above the two guys to my outside and the guy directly on my inside. I got to the last lap and gritted my teeth and told myself repeatedly to put my head down and get to the wall. I felt like I had the win but was just touched out by Lorenzo Benatti of Italy.”
“This was a huge racing breakthrough for me. Many times I over think when I race but this race allowed me to get back to my pure racing instincts and just go for it. I was pleased with how it went and it showed me that my training is going well. There is plenty more work to be done but I'm pleased to be moving in the right direction when I'm so broken down,” concluded Burch.
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