Junior triathletes display their potential

Bermuda junior triathletes Erica Hawley and Tyler Smith produced very encouraging performances on the weekend at the Pan American Triathlon Confederation Junior Elite Championships.

Competing in Sarasota, Florida  in the 16-19 age group against a very strong field of juniors from USA, Canada, Central and South America Hawley finished 39^th in the 16-19 female event  in 1 hr 06 mins 57 secs with Smith taking 57^th place in 59 mins and 42 secs.

Race day started cold and cloudy which made for a wetsuit legal swim but the weather cleared providing near perfect conditions. Smith had a bit of a hiccup in the first transition as there was some confusion with where to rack your bike and Smith’s bike was moved without notifying him.

As 15 year olds both Smith and Hawley still have three more years in this age category and their times at this age suggests that if they continue to develop   both of them could well be in contention for at least a top ten finish in the years to come.

Meanwhile in South West England, Bermuda’s Megan Berry participated in her first multisport event in the Sidmouth Aquathlon over a 600m pool swim followed by an outdoor 5km run. The Exeter University student, who has only recently taken up triathlon, completed the swim in 9 mins 3 secs and the run in 21 mins 57 secs, including transition, for an overall time of 31 mins good enough for 16^th overall out of 97 competitors, 4^th female  and 3rd place in the female 19-39 age group. Berry’s next race is the Dartington Duathlon on the 23^rd March.