Ten years after being controversially stripped of first place in the National Sprint Triathlon Championships, former pro cyclist Kris Hedges stormed to victory in the same event at a sun-drenched Clearwater Beach yesterday.

Hedges was a mere 17-year-old when he crossed the line first some 16 seconds ahead of Neil de Ste Croix in 1997.

But following the race then Bermuda Triathlon Association president de Ste Croix lodged a complaint with race director Dave Morrison over Hedges’ acceptance of an energy gel pack mid-way through the five-kilometre run — something that had been banned only two weeks previously by de Ste Croix and his BTA executive.

Hedges was given a two-minute time penalty by Morrison and slipped to fifth in the official race results.

The former Saltus student — who along with his then coach Greg Hopkins argued the rule change had not been given anywhere near enough publicity — was so disappointed with the ruling he said afterwards he “might never do another triathlon” while Hopkins described de Ste Croix’s actions at the time as “low”.

In response, the BTA stuck to their guns, claiming the law was common-place internationally and fully justified.

Ten years on from that unsavoury episode, however, Hedges is still competing in triathlons and doing it very well by the looks of things — claiming the sprint title yesterday after the 750-metre swim, 30-kilometre bike and five kilometre run in a time of one hour, six minutes and 30 seconds — comfortably ahead of veteran triathlete Kent Richardson who finished in 1.08.10.

Norbert Mayer was third in 1.10.01.

In the absence of both Naude twins from South Africa — last year’s champion Evan who was preoccupied with accountancy exams and his brother Riaan who decided against entering altogether — Hedges went into the race as the favourite along with perhaps Richardson.

And he was clearly content afterwards with the quality of the performance — particularly having done almost no swimming in the lead-up to the race.

“It’s great because I claimed line honours ten years ago so it’s nice to come back and do it again ten years later,” said an impressively fresh-looking Hedges, who is about to head off back to college at UCLA as he seeks to complete architecture qualifications.

“What happened ten years ago was unfortunate but it’s very definitely in the past and I’m just pleased that I managed to come out today and perform well.

“I haven’t been doing any triathlon training as such, but I did May 24 last week so I’m in pretty reasonable shape right now. I just look to enjoy myself out there more than anything.

“I’m lucky in that I have a good base of natural fitness from my time as a cyclist so now I try and maintain that as much as I can as well as get on with the day job.

“Swimming-wise I haven’t really been doing very much, but I still have a decent technique from many years of swimming so I think that got me through.”

In the women’s event, meanwhile, Half-Ironman enthusiast Dee McMullen enjoyed an equally commanding victory, coming home in a time of 1.13.02 — almost a minute and a half ahead of her sister Kim.

The duo are about to head off for another Half-Ironman in Baltimore and were using the sprint championships as part of their training.

“We’ve been preparing since January for the Half-Ironman, but I didn’t run May 24 because I’ve been having a few problems with my knee,” said the champion, who medalled for Bermuda as a cyclist at the last Small Island Games in Gibraltar and who will be searching for more medals in Rhodes this summer.

“But I felt pretty good today. I came out near the back after the swim, but managed to work my way back during the bike. In all honesty I expected Kim to go past me on the run, particularly with my knee.

“But I managed to hang on an I’m feeling confident in the run-up to Baltimore, even if I probably haven’t done as much running as I would have liked to prepare.”

Aside from the performance of the McMullen sisters, the other stand-out performance of the day came from young Rebecca Heyliger, with the 14-year-old dubbed afterwards as “the next Flora Duffy”, coming in third in 1.22.31.