Bermuda's young triathletes made their mark at the Clermont Draft Legal Challenge in Florida, one of the premier youth triathlon events in the United States. The competition saw several Bermudian athletes achieve top-ten finishes, with two boys securing podium positions.
Youth Girls Saturday
In the Youth Girls Saturday event, American Laila McIntyre took the top spot with a time of 36:24. Bermuda's Sofia Leclerc led the charge for the island, finishing in a commendable 9th place with a time of 37:49 (Swim: 7:09, Bike: 18:08, Run: 10:42). Naomi MacGuinness was close behind, securing 10th place overall with a time of 37:50 (Swim: 7:53, Bike: 18:49, Run: 9:06), including the fastest run time of the race.
Other notable performances from Bermuda's female athletes included Zara Bule (14th, 38:34), Colette Durkin (18th, 38:53), Riana Robinson (23rd, 39:21), Isla Cooze (25th, 40:25), Iris Duda (31st, 41:11), and Kelise Wade (36th, 42:55).
Youth Men's Saturday
The Youth Men's Saturday event saw American Daniel Morales claim victory in a time of 31:36. Dom Wright showed off his usual strength in the swim by coming out of the water first. He was followed by Rory Shepherd who then managed to get into the lead pack on the bike. The lead group was caught on the second lap of 2 by a big pack of riders including Dylan Eiselt.
Dylan Eiselt delivered an outstanding performance to finish second overall with a time of 31:52 (Swim: 5:30, Bike: 15:49, Run: 8:48). Rory Shepherd was equally impressive finishing 3rd with a time of 31:57, Shepard clocked a time of 5:10 in the Swim, before clocking 16:15 on the bike, before closing out with a time of 8:51 on the Run.
Sanchez Smith had some ground to make up after his swim but narrowly missed out on a podium spot, finishing fourth in 32:36 (Swim: 5:57, Bike: 16:26, Run: 8:32), with the fastest run time in the boys' race.
Other strong performances from Bermuda's male athletes came from Jasper Lau (13th, 34:04), Jens Drea (15th, 34:28), Spencer Haldeman (22nd, 35:05), Ethan Smith (23rd, 35:16), Rohan Roopra (26th, 36:14), Jacob Leclerc (27th, 36:16), and Dominic Wright (31st, 37:44).
Unfortunately, in the field of 48, 2 of Bermuda’s racers did not finish - Lucas Bule suffered a mechanical on the bike leg and had to drop out, while Ronan Davidge, after a creditable swim, did not quite manage to beat the lap-our rule, being pulled out just 5 seconds before he would have been safe to finish. Ronan’s time will come, he is also young in his age group.
To have 3 in the top 5 in this event is a great credit to Bermuda’s junior athletes.
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