Jonathan Herring romped to a convincing win in the national championships at Clearwater Beach.

With Saltus school-mate Tyler Butterfield, winner of the recent Bank of Bermuda Triathlon, opting to compete in the team event, Herring took full advantage to triumph in what was his first Olympic-distance race.

"I was glad when it was over. The heat was beginning to get to me,'' said Herring, who led from start to finish but had to hold off a late charge from top master Andrew Doble on the run.

Competitors completed a one and a half kilometre swim followed by a supposed 40K cycle -- actually closer to 45K -- and finished with a 10K run.

Herring, an accomplished swimmer, was second out of the water, trailing only Graham Smith who was part of a team, and then enjoyed a strong cycle which gave him more than a 10 minute lead over Doble heading into the run.

The youngster finished in two hours, 23 minutes and 12 seconds, with Doble following in 2:30.04. Luc Laurent placed third in 2:36.17.

Laurie Orchard, beaten by Julia Hawley in the Bank triathlon, exacted her revenge as she won the women's race in 2:41.40. Lynn Patchett claimed second place in 2:44.19 with Kim Mason third in 2:44.49.

Over the longer distance, Hawley, who is making a comeback after giving birth to her second child, had to settle for fourth as she finished in 2:46.57.

Like Butterfield, Herring said he now hoped to concentrate on triathlon as his main sport.

"Now that it's an Olympic sport, I'd like to train more with the triathlon im mind,'' he said. "The run is my weakest event, so I'll probably start doing the cross-country series to try and improve on that.

"I know some of the top triathletes like Tyler, Kent Richardson and Kevin Tucker weren't competing on Sunday, but I'm still happy to have won. For most of the way, I felt comfortable.''.

Team honours went to Vernon Tankard, Paul Oliver and Chris Walker who clocked 2:11.42, well clear of second-placed Tab Froud, Richard Mason and Sylvester Jean Pierre (2:16.04).

Full results, see tomorrow's Scoreboard .

TWO OF A KIND -- Jonathan Herring and Laurie Orchard came away with top honours during Sunday's national triathlon championships at St.David's.