Oliver Hayward was satisfied with his performance in his first appearance among the elite men at the Americas Triathlon Cup Magog over the weekend.

Hayward finished 32nd of 52 and completed the race in 58min 21sec, 3:13 behind winner Zach Leachman, from the United States. The 18-year-old recorded 9:40 on the 750-metre swim, negotiated the 20km bike ride in 29:33 and ran 5km in 18:00.

“I was happy to walk away with 32nd in Magog in my first elite men’s start,” Hayward said.

“I was pretty nervous going into this one as I didn’t fully believe I was good enough to be racing at this leve, but I surprised myself by coming out of the water with the main pack, leaving me in the second group on the bike.

“We caught the front group of seven on the second lap, which I honestly didn’t expect. A few of us tried going off the front, but it seemed the main pack had already decided it was going to be a running race.

“Leading the race into T2 was a pretty cool feeling. I couldn’t stop smiling and just tried to take it all in before getting on with the run.

“I’m very happy to finish this mini race-block with another step in the right direction. Plenty to take away from this one and lots to build on.”

At the same venue, two young athletes from Bermuda entered TriMemphré Magog. Isla Cooze was eleventh of 28 in the Coupe Cup under-15 women, while Iris Duda was second of 16 in the Coupe Cup under-13 women.

Duda was proud of her achievement in a competition dominated by Canada’s rising triathletes.

“I’m really happy with how my race went,” the 12-year-old said.

“It was fun with Ollie Hayward and Isla Cooze out in Canada. We were a small group, but we cheered each other on and we did so well.

“Magog is such a pretty spot to race. A big thank you to my coaches for helping me prepare for this.”

Meanwhile, nine young athletes from Bermuda participated in the Flatland Triathlon Cup in West Des Moines, Iowa. The event was the final qualifier for the United States Triathlon Youth and Junior National Championships, to be held from July 31 to August 2, in West Chester, Ohio.

There were some outstanding performances from the island’s budding triathletes, with Rory Shepherd third in the youth elite boys, while Gianluca Bortoli was tenth in the junior elite boys.

Despite struggling with a knee problem in the weeks leading up to the event, Shepherd managed a great result.

“I have been having a difficult year with a knee injury, so I did not know how this race would go,” the 15-year-old said.

“I only started running normally again around three weeks ago so I am really happy with my third place. It was really hot but I enjoyed the race and most of all having been away at school it was a lot of fun to be back racing with my Bermuda team mates.

“The team did very well on this fast course and hopefully some of us have qualified for nationals in a few weeks.”

Alec Shepherd, who took charge of the group in Iowa, was pleased with the performance of the island’s up-and-coming talent.

“Once again our juniors have had some truly impressive results this weekend,” the coach said.

“Their commitment and enthusiasm is paying off and they are consistently now at the front end of these highly competitive races.

“In the Flatland Cup in Iowa, a USAT Junior National elite series event, we saw top 15 finishes from six of our nine athletes, qualifying for the US National Championships next month.

“All nine athletes should be proud of their performances. For an island like ours with our small population, that is no mean feat.

“Equally good were our results in Magog, Canada and it is such a pleasure to watch the progress of our athletes and they are really stepping up when it matters. I’m so pleased for all of them.”