Tyler Smith finished an impressive eighth out of 77 starters at the Canadian National Junior Triathlon Championships in Ottawa at the weekend.

Erica Hawley placed fifteenth in the Women’s Junior Championships, while Nick Pilgrim finished twelfth and Caleb Ingham 27th in the Canadian 13 to 15 Youth Series triathlon, which was changed to a duathlon because of the poor water quality.

After a 10min 15sec split in the 800 metres swim, Smith was just behind the lead group of three and then produced a 26:40 20km-bike ride to stay in touch with the leaders.

However, his run split of 17:31, after a brave move on the bike, denied him a possible podium finish with the top three recording times of about 16 minutes.

Smith finished in 55:31, with the winner Charles Paquet, of Canada, crossing the line in 53:51.

“I came out with the first chase pack and bridged up to the three leaders when I launched a counter attack to try and get away on the last half of the bike,” Smith said.

“I put some time into the group, but killed my legs for the run in doing so.

“I was eventually reeled in after a little more than three kilometres solo off the front, and finished eighth after finishing a run made tough from the effort on the bike.”

Hawley, who has also qualified for the ITU Junior World Championships in Cozumel, Mexico in September, also had a solid race in 1:04:47 with a 11:26 swim, 31:25 bike and 20:46 run.

The race was won by Desirae Ridenour, of Canada, in 59:55.

Hawley has two more races as she prepares for the Worlds in September. She is due to race in the ITU World Cup in Montreal next month, followed by a Canadian Junior Series race in Edmonton at the beginning of September.

Pilgrim, meanwhile, posted a time of 35:09 with splts of 3:42 for the 1.3km run, which was substituted for the swim, 19:37 for the 10km bike and 9:52 for the final 2.6km run.

Ingham’s time was 38:53 with splits of 3:57, 20:00 and 12:37.

The race was won by Mathias Gelber in 33:20.