Two new champions will be crowned when the Bank of Bermuda Foundation Triathlon is held on Sunday in St George’s.

Last year seasoned competitors Neil de Ste Croix and Karen Smith took the men’s and women’s titles with Smith finishing second overall.

However, Smith is reportedly nursing an injury that prevented her from defending her age group title at the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii.

De Ste Croix, whose win last year was his first in the event in 16 years, is also unavailable as he is preparing to compete in the Xterra World Championships in Maui next weekend.

Two of the Island’s top young triathletes, Tyler Smith and Erica Hawley, are set to compete and could be among the favourites in their respective categories, as Tyler looks to follow in his mother Karen’s achievements last year.

Both teenagers have had a busy summer competing overseas, which included a top-ten finish in their age groups at the Canadian 16-19 Junior Elite Western Championships in Kelowna, British Columbia, in August.

Smith will be looking to make up for a disappointing Junior Elite Triathlon World Championships in Chicago in September, where a lost bike shoe and flat tyre forced him to withdraw from the race.

This event will be his first time back in action. Smith will be looking to establish himself early in the 750-metres swim around Ordnance Island before switching to a 20k bike ride which heads from King Square out to Clearwater Beach and the airport roundabout before returning to the transition on Ordnance Island. A 5k run in St George’s will complete the event.

Smith’s nearest challenger could be Evan Naude who is able to match him on the bike and run but may have too much to do after the swim to get close enough to chase Smith down.

It will be an interesting battle for podium honours with Jonathan Herring and Matthew Oliviera also expected to be in the mix, although Oliviera is doubtful because of an injury.

Others to watch are the much-improved Chris Hands and the consistent Matt Thompson.

Smith was beaten by both Herring and Naude in the 2013 race when Herring retained his men’s crown and Belinda Castree captured her first women’s title.

Smith, then just 15, crossed the line ahead of Naude but was later penalised a minute for infringing race rules of not wearing a number belt in one of the transitions.

Hawley, who is in school in England, should have things very much her own way in the women’s race especially as Karen Smith is injured and Maria Olcheski-Bell and Laurie Orchard are both racing abroad.

Hawley’s performances over the season after some tough racing and training camps in Canada and a solid World Championship showing, suggest that she would have been tough to beat anyway, especially with the big improvement in her run.

Like Smith, Hawley is expected to set the pace from the start, but who will take the other podium places is difficult to predict with Sue Edney, Kandis Matthews and Deanna Didyk all possible contenders.

Yesterday, 42 junior and adult triathletes had signed up for the event which is the oldest on the Bermuda calendar.

“We’re going to keep the entries open until Saturday and will do number pick-up in the town on the morning of the race,” Ben Wright, the race director, said.

“The numbers [so far] include juniors but 50 adults would be a pretty good number based on the other races we have. I think we’ll get there based on who I’ve been talking to.

“Jonathan Herring is a past champion and I’m sure he’ll be tough to beat. Based on who has signed up, I think Erica Hawley is going to be the [women’s] favourite.”

The adult race, which includes teams, gets under way at 9am and will be preceded by the juniors at 8am, who will race over various distances in age groups 7 to 10, 11-12 and 13-15 in separate racing bike and mountain bike categories.