Craig Munden produced a dominant display to become Bermuda’s newest national champion at Clearwater Beach on Sunday.

Munden won the 5km race at the Open Water Bermuda National Championships, just as he did in 2022, after leading from start to finish before clocking a time of 1hr 10 min 25 sec.

Second place went to Logan Jones in 1:16:36 after the young swimmer held off the strong challenge of Bradley Coetzer, the champion last year, who finished in 1:17:37.

“It’s a great race to be part of and it’s one of the best places in the world to be racing in swimming,” Munden, 28, told The Royal Gazette.

“I didn’t do the national championships last year and it’s the first one I’ve done since 2022. It’s great to get the title here in pretty good conditions. It got a little bit choppy at some points, but it was mostly beautiful flat water and a lovely race to win.

“Luckily, I managed to get up front quite early on and take the lead. I was swimming on my own out there for most of the time. That was the plan to try to get out there early and see what I can do. It was a pretty well-executed race in the end.”

Jones was delighted to fight off the competition from Coetzer, who had tailed him for the better part of the race.

“The race started out good and I started off with Bradley Coetzer until we went around the first buoy to start our first lap, then I dropped him,” the 15-year-old said.

“For the main part of the first lap I was all by myself, then Bradley caught up with me going into the second lap.

“He stayed mainly on my hip and that was annoying but it’s all part of open water swimming. I just kept on trying to stay ahead of him and fighting for second position.

“When we got to the third lap and going towards the end we had a little bit of a sprint race, but I outsprinted him.”

Jones and Munden might face each other again during the Round The Sound on October 12 if they both enter.

“I’ve raced against Craig Munden in the past and he’s done really well every single time,” Jones said.

“Looking at my last time I raced him in open water, I dropped quite a bit of time. Hopefully, if I keep practising open water swimming, I can bring time down to get closer to him.

“I want to try the 10K for the Round The Sound. It would be my first time and looking at how he beat me in the 5K, I think he'll do better, but I’m going out there to have fun.”

Jorgia White made her first time in the 5K race count by becoming the female national champion with her time of 1:18:50 placing her fifth overall.

“It’s really exciting for me to be the first female racing for the first time over this distance,” the 17-year-old said.

“It was a beautiful day and I’m glad I could finish the race. It was rough on the second lap around the buoys, but overall I’m happy with my swim.

“I don’t kick well during the swim but I think my arms are very strong when I pull, which makes me get ahead of other competitors.”

White finished between Fulton siblings, Noah and Elanna. Noah went astray during the race but stopped the clock at 1:18:33 to settle for fourth.

“It was a pretty good swim and my first time doing open water,” the 14-year-old said.

“I was fourth overall and first in my age group. I kept going off course but I feel like keeping a good pace was the best part for me.”

Elanna recorded 1:19:20 to settle for the second-best female and sixth overall, a good result for the 17-year who specialises in sprint swimming.

“This was my first time doing 5K as I’m more of a sprinter,” she said.

“It was amazing, it was so much fun and such a great opportunity. The last open water event I did was the 800m at Round the Sound, so this is a big step up for me and it was really fun.”

Jackson Langley (24min 2sec) held off Jasper Lau (24:45) to clinch victory in the 1,500 metres. Ethan Smith (24:45) and Jacob Leclerc (24:46), were close behind. Isla Cooze was the top female over the one-lap race in 25:57.

The 16-year-old Langley was pleased with how his race went in what he described as tough weather conditions.

“I was happy with my performance,” he said.

“We all went off really hard but I tried to focus on maintaining my form. Everyone agreed there were definitely parts along the main stretch that were choppy.”

Girls led the way in the 400 metres race as Madeleine Friend (7:08) took a closely contested race against Riana Robinson (7:09). Niklas Bock was the first male out of the water in 7:37.

More than 80 swimmers took part in the three different races on offer, with the 1,500 metres contest attracting the highest number with 45, followed by the 5K at 24. There were 21 entries in the 400 metres.