Tyler Smith and Erica Hawley became the youngest pair of winners in the Bank of Bermuda Foundation Triathlon yesterday when they won the men’s and women’s titles.

The 17-year-olds were favourites to replace the absent Neil de Ste Croix and Karen Smith as champions and did not disappoint as they raced to victory in St George’s.

Smith chased down Jonathan Herring, the 2013 winner, to finish first overall in the adult category.

Out of the water first, Smith’s 30-second lead over Herring going up Water Street for the start of the bike race was lost on Kindley Field Road as Herring made it an interesting contest.

Herring kept that lead coming back into St George’s where he led the Bermuda High School student by about 75 yards going into the town, and into the transition area for the 5k run, out to Cut Road and back.

Smith finished in 1hr 2min 43sec, more than a minute ahead of Herring in 1:04.08. Matthew Oliveira, 15, was third in 1:07.25.

“I felt pretty good on the swim and tried to take it out fast because I knew [Herring] would be coming for me and Matthew on the bike, too, where I knew I might lose it,” Smith said.

“I saw him gaining on me and he came by me on Kindley Field, about halfway between the airport and the Swing Bridge roundabout.

“I tried to come back in front with a burst but with draft legal racing once someone passes you, you have to drop back a certain distance and I dropped back that distance and tried to keep him in sight.

“We came out of the transition together for a good battle on the run. He is still a fast runner so it definitely wasn’t easy.

“I tried to keep within myself, be relaxed and enjoy the day. It was a little slick out there and I almost hit a bus in St David’s and had to go onto the grass.”

Herring, 32, was pleased with another top-three finish, accepting that Smith was too fast for him on the run.

“I felt pretty good in the swim, my strokes stayed together the entire swim which hasn’t happened in quite a while,” he said. “In the bike I felt good and was able to reel in Tyler.

“I haven’t been running really, and even if I was running, Tyler is still so much faster than me on the run that if I come out of the transition with him then it is still his race to lose. It was fun, the temperature was down.”

Evan Naude, another pre-race favourite, was fourth overall in 1:07.54 while Christoper Sands, who finished in 1:08.48, rounded out the top five.

Hawley, who is back from a break in school in England and was the women’s favourite, finished ninth overall in 1:12.22. Coming out of the water about a minute behind the leaders, she fell off on the pace on the bike, and finished a minute behind veteran Kent Richardson who was eighth overall.

“I didn’t think there was much pressure, I just wanted to go out there and have fun as I’m back from school,” Hawley said.

“I tried to have a good swim, however I had a crash on the mount line using my mom’s time trial bike which was embarrassing.

“I felt I had a good swim, the bike was good but the run was quite hard.”

The split times had Smith complete the 750 metres swim in 11.45, the bike in 30.46 and the run in 18.57 while Herring was out of the water in 12.34 before a 30.06 ride gave him the lead, only to fall back on the run with a time of 20.20.

Oliveira had times of 14.36, 30.33 and 21.10, while Hawley completed the swim in 12.48, the bike in 36.17 and the run in 22.18 to claim her first title before heading back to school on Friday.

Pilgrims Progress won the Adult Open team category with a time of 1:08.11, followed by XL Catlin in 1:09.58 and Palmers in 1:12.11. Butterfield & Vallis took the Adult Male Team title, finishing in 1:09.15.