COME Wednesday, July 10, Harpenden's Mark Crowley and St Albans' Nicola Dudman will be swapping the English rain-swept summer for the warmer climes of Jamaica although a holiday in the sun is the last thing on the minds of these budding young athletes.

Both Crowley and Dudman will travel to Jamaica with the Great Britain squad to take part in the Junior World Championships and both believe they are in with a chance of success.

"I'm in good form and could be there or thereabouts," said Crowley, who will be competing in the high jump.

He continued: "I perform best on the big occasions and I'd like to think I could at least make the final."

Similarily, Dudman is confident of her chances of being successful in the hammer: "As long as I throw something near to my best then I don't really mind where I come, but I'm going to go for the British record and I'd love to come back with a medal for Britain.

"It's just an achievement to get there, really. This was my last chance to get to the Junior World Championships and I'm really looking forward to it."

Both athletes left qualification until late in the day, with Dudman surpassing the Junior World Championship qualifying distance of 55m at the Commonwealth Games trials in June while Crowley officially made the team on Saturday, after clinching the Norwich Union AAA National Under-20 Championships at Bedford with a leap of 2.15m before capturing the Irish Under-20 crown 24 hours later.

"The main thing was to get to the Championships, everything else is a bonus but this was my goal at the beginning of the year and I'm delighted to have achieved it," he said.

The pair travel with the British squad to Gorizia, in Italy, tomorrow (Friday) for an international fixture against the hosts and Spain before jetting of for Kingston on Wednesday, with the squad due to return from their Caribbean adventure on Monday, July 22.

July 3, 2002 17:00