Championships at Clearwater Beach on Sunday, after he held off a fast-finishing Neil de Ste Croix.

The women's title went to Karen Smith, who got the better of defending champion Laurie Orchard.

Herring emerged from the 1500-metre swim well ahead of the field and had already completed the first of his eight 5K laps on the bike before de Ste Croix emerged from the transition area. Herring went on to post the fastest bike split of the day, 64 minutes, 40 seconds to extend his lead.

But former champion de Ste Croix refused to throw in the towel and fought back strongly in the 10K run, closing the gap between himself and Herring to four and a half minutes with the fastest run split of the day, 40:04.

Herring took the title with a winning time of two hours, 16 minutes and 10 seconds, while second-placed de Ste Croix claimed the 30-39 title in 2:20:31.

Smith never looked like being caught after finishing the swim ahead of Orchard. She extended her lead on the bike by a further two minutes and with her superior run was always in command of the race.

However, Smith began to suffer in hot, humid conditions and staggered across the finishing line before collapsing. She responded well to medical treatment before being taken to hospital as a precautionary measure.

Smith clocked 2:24:27, an impressive time in the conditions.

The rescheduling of the championships, postponed from three weeks before due to inclement weather, took its toll on the numbers in the senior field.

Steve Petty produced a solid performance to take the men's 40-49 title, while Carolyn Conway took the women's 40-49 honours. Lea Butterfield completed an excellent season by winning the women's 30-39 category.

The Sports R Us Junior National Championships attracted an excellent turnout, but the 11-15 advanced category, over a 750-metre swim, 15K bike and 3K run was marred by some confusion over the run.

In the end, Brian Steinhoff won the title, thanks to an excellent bike ride, holding off defending champion Nick Taylor and fast-finishing Chris Conway. As well as finishing first overall, Steinhoff took the 13-15 age group honours.

Geoffrey Smith, who has just moved up to the advanced division, used his excellent all-round ability to take the 11-12 title ahead of Adam Petty.

Flora Duffy produced a stunning performance, catching 13-15 champion Ashley Robinson Roberts on the run to finish first overall and take the 11-12 title.

Robinson-Roberts held off Ashley Kirkpatrick and Robyn Dickinson for her title and overall second place.

Over the regular distance, other winners were Tyler Abbott (11-15 overall and 11-12), Gregory Rose (13-15), Chelsea Burns (girls 11-15 overall and 13-15), Chloe Kempe (11-12), Tim Fox (7-10), Raishun Burch (9-10), Emily Rowe (7-10 overall) and Rebecca Sharpe (9-10).

Champion: Jonathan Herring, a convincing winner of the national triathlon title.