When former world champion triathlete Karen Smyers says Flora Duffy has the ?right stuff? to succeed on the international arena, people should believe it.

Smyers, after all, has spent her 20-year career displaying exactly the right stuff to propel her to three International Triathlon Union world championships as well as the Ironman crown despite a bout of thyroid cancer, a collision with an 18-wheel truck and an accident involving a rogue window pane that severed her hamstring muscle.

And on a weekend-long trip to the Island, Smyers, who competed here earlier in her career, witnessed Duffy?s ability both firsthand and during a screening of her remarkable Commonwealth Games performance during the Bermuda Triathlon Association?s awards dinner.

?I think she has the right stuff,? said Smyers, who ran separate triathlon clinics for youngsters and adults as well taking part in some fun triathlon and duathlon events.

?I watched her in a re-run of the Commonwealth Games race and she looked very good. For a youngster to perform like this in a big event when others might freeze says a lot about her.

?She has changed her body shape and she looks like she might be a real prospect for the future, she is only beginning to tap into her potential.?

Smyers, who remembers meeting a ten-year-old Tyler Butterfield at a triathlon clinic on of one her many previous visits to the Island, offered the some advice to Duffy.

?You only get out what you put in,? continued the veteran, who finished fourth in a World Cup event here despite a flat tyre.

?If she continues to work hard and continues to do it for the right reasons and for herself, then she can go all the way in this great sport.?

Smyers, who prides herself on never earning a penalty nor dropping out of a race ? except when she broke a collarbone in a fall ? in her long career, also gave out prizes at the BTA awards ceremony.

The winners were:: ? Joanna Shillington; ? Norbert Meyer Kim McMullen; ? Dorian Armstrong ? Karen Bordage; ? Nick Strong ? Flora Duffy; ? David Lunn jr ? Karen Smith; ? Evan Naude: Patty Petty: Steven Petty