Tyler Smith reaffirmed his reputation as one of the Island’s most promising young athletes with a convincing win in the Tokio Millennium Re Sprint Triathlon in Hamilton yesterday.

Smith led from start to finish, completing 750-metre swim, 20-kilometre bike and 5km run in 1hr 1min 36sec, while Martina Olcheski-Bell continued her good form with a comfortable victory in the women’s race in 1:11:25.

Both Smith and Bell were victorious in last month’s AON National Sprint Triathlon at Clearwater Beach.

“The swim went pretty well, it was a little choppy out there, but I swam with Flora Duffy [who was competing in the team event], which was a good experience,” Smith said.

“I came out first with Flora. She’s an amazing swimmer and really showed me just how much more work I need to do to compete against the top men.

“It wasn’t my best bike; there was a headwind on the way up and a tailwind on the way back, but I just kept on going. It was a challenging course, even though it was flat.”

The 16-year-old, who has qualified for the Junior Elite World Championships in Chicago in September, said he was encouraged with how his season was panning out.

“This is kind of a recovery month for me after months of training to qualify for the World Championships,” said Smith, who finished fourth in last week’s Appleby Bermuda Half-Marathon Derby.

“I’m not at peak fitness, so [the performance] shows me that I’m doing the right things.

“It’s nice to see how I’ve progressed over the last few years and hopefully I can continue to get better.”

Finishing second was Jonathan Herring in 1:04:38, in only his third race since taking a lengthy break from triathlon after last summer’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Herring admitted he was still dusting off the cobwebs after his eight-month hiatus because of injury and illness.

“I had pretty low expectations going in and it actually hurt a lot more than I thought,” the 32-year-old said.

“I was hoping I would be fully fresh and enjoy it, but it was a hard slog for me. I’m a big, heavy guy and I felt my weight in the run today, which is not a good thing.”

Herring was full of praise for Smith and Matthew Oliveira, 15, who came third in 1:04:49.

“Tyler is ridiculous to watch running. He just seems to float on air,” Herring said. “Matt is going to be a beast pretty soon — he already is on the bike. I saw him after a lap or two on the bike and I really started to worry.

“I was waiting for him to pass me on the run but somehow he never did.”

Oliveira’s time was his quickest over the sprint distance. “I was very happy with my performance,” said Oliveira, who posted the fastest bike time of 31:19.

“I beat my best time by three minutes. Jonathan was my target and he really helped push me on the run. He’s a really good runner and outsprinted me in the end.”

Tucker Murphy, a two-times Winter Olympian, finished fourth in a time of 1:06:59.

Olcheski-Bell, 32, who will compete for Bermuda in her second NatWest Island Games in Jersey this month, said she could not be happier with her form.

“It was quite a technical course and that was difficult for me because I’m more of a powerful rider,” said Olcheski-Bell, who came ninth overall.

“This is my fourth triathlon this year and I’ve won all of them, so I feel good going into the Island Games.”

Promising youngster Erica Hawley, 17, was the second female to finish, in 1:13:28, with Amber Mehta, 29, in rounding out the top three in 1:14:17.