The last time Dirone Minors competed for the winning team in the Bank of Bermuda Team Triathlon, Ronald Reagan was President of the US and the world-wide web was just a concept.

Yesterday, Minors was able to turn back the clock to repeat his 1986 triumph, holding off the challenge of Kavin Smith in the three-mile run to clinch victory for his team.

Cyclist Kris Hedges and visiting American swimmer Patrick Dideum had forged a lead of three minutes and 20 seconds for the 45-year-old Minors to defend.

And although nine-time Marathon Derby winner Smith cut that lead to 25 seconds, Minors? time of 18:27 was good enough for him to taste victory in the event 19 years on from his previous triumph.

?It was tough, but Patrick had given us a lead and Kris had stretched it, so I just did not want to lose it,? Minors said.

?I could see the other guys on the course and I knew Kavin was closing in on me. But I?ve experienced that kind of pressure before ? though I was a long time ago ? as I won this event in 1985 and 1986.?

Dideum, Hedges and Minors won in a time of 55-56, while the team of Smith, with young swimmer Rebecca Sharpe and cyclist Ricky Sousa came in second in 56:21.

The Naude twins, Evan and Riaan, who finished first and second in the Bank of Bermuda individual event two weeks ago, recruited their older brother Dean Naude to swim for them and they came in third.

In the women?s event, the formidable combination of young swimmer Rebecca Heyliger, cyclist Julia Hawley and runner Karen Smith was too good for the rest. The team clocked 1:01:55 and finished ninth overall.

Swimmer Caroline Black and the McMullen sisters, cyclist Deanna and runner Kim, were the second-best women?s team, while Kris Cash, Laurie Orchard and Victoria Fiddick came in third.

Hedges, who had barely started primary school when his team-mate Minors last won this event, produced the fastest bike ride of the day, completing 20 kilometres on the streets of Hamilton in 27:34.

The former pro was quicker than two visiting British cycling professionals, Ross Muir and Ian Holt, who took part in last week?s CD&P Grand Prix.

Swimmer Dideum, who had flown in from California, has competed at US college level for Texas A & M, and was first out of the water in a time of 9:54 to give Hedges a lead.

Hedges said: ?It was a lot of fun out there. In the individual event a couple of weeks ago, I was holding something back on the bike to leave something for the run.

?In the team event, you just have to go flat out. That?s what I tried to do, to build up a lead for Dirone.?

Karen Smith was delighted with her performance, clinching victory in the team event for the first time.

?Julia Hawley and I have been competing together in this event for five years and we have always finished second,? Smith said. ?It?s nice to finally win it.

?I felt fantastic and I had a had a really strong run. It sets me up nicely for next week.?

Next weekend, Smith will be one of a Bermuda contingent of nine triathletes who will travel to Hawaii to compete in the World Age Group Championships.

Those preparing for the Worlds had helped to boost the number of teams for this year?s event to around 20 more than last year.

Hawley said: ?We got off to a good start with the swim by Rebecca and then, for me, it was a time trial. For me, it?s a bit of a down time in my training, but I felt I had a good ride today.

?It?s just a bit of fun, but Karen and I are very competitive, so it was really nice to win.?

Ricky Sousa, of the second-placed Sharpe-Sousa-Smith team, said: ?We put together a good team and we tried to make it competitive, but somebody brought in an incredible swimmer and that was that.?

Sousa clocked an impressive 29:10 for the bike ride, remarkable in the circumstances. ?That?s the first time I?ve been on my bike for three months,? he said. ?And yesterday I did a 23-mile training run for the New York Marathon. But this was a lot of fun.?

The Naude twins had too much to make up to repeat their success in the individual event, after their swimmer ? brother Dean ? left Hedges with a head start over them of more than two minutes.

Dean, 33, had flown in from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to compete.

Evan said: ?We knew there were some fantastic competitors out there and we know that Dean is not at that level. So we knew we?d be behind on the swim and we wanted to make up as much as possible on the bike and the run and we managed to do that.?

Montpelier Re?s trio of Adam Szakmary, Mark Yeulett and Chris Harris won top honours in the company event in a time of 1:01:59, earning tenth place overall.

In the family competition, the Godfreys, Matthew, Thomas and Nigel, were triumphant, and clocked 1:08:07. Paul Viney, Richard Mason and Andrew Doble teamed up to win the Open masters title in 1:05:18.