Bermuda’s triathletes made their presence felt on the opening day of the Island Games at Clearwater Beach.Laurie Orchard finished third among the women’s field to take the bronze medal while Bermuda captured the silver medal in the women’s team division.Earning a place on the podium was high on Orchard’s agenda heading into the event. And she did just that, covering the 1.5 mile swim, 40k bike and 10k run in a combined time of 2:19.39 in hot and humid conditions to live up to her expectations.“I really, really wanted to get a medal and get Bermuda on the board,” Orchard said. “I worked so hard and I’m really, really proud.”Orchard was sixth out of the water (23.39), third on the bike (1:08.56) and fourth in the run (46:07).Martina Olcheski-Bell (2:24.16) was second among the local women and eighth overall while Laura Norman — the only other local among the women — did not finish.Western Isle’s Kerry MacPhee (2:10.52) claimed the gold medal while the silver went to Shetland Island’s Lynsey Henderson (2:18.57).MacPhee finished more than eight minutes ahead of nearest rival Henderson and conquered the women’s field despite competing with cracked ribs.“I had a mountain bike accident about five weeks ago and I cracked a couple of ribs, so I have been doing a very little swimming and I’m not a swimmer anyway,” she said. “Given I’m not a swimmer it was pretty worrying, but I got through it and worked hard on the bike and run.”Taking the men’s gold medal was Orkney’s Bobby Oag (2:00.04) who required medical treatment after the race.The silver and bronze medals went to Faroe Island’s Gudmundur Joensen (2:01.17) and Shetland Island’s Peter Fenwick (2:01.31).Tucker Murphy topped the local men’s field, covering the course in 2:06.41 to place sixth overall.The past Winter Olympian 29th was out of the water (25:48), 11th on the bike (1:01.29) and second in the run (38:33).“It was a good race and great to have a home crowd cheering us on,” Murphy said. “I had a bit of a rough swim, a better bike than I normally do and I’m always happy to arrive to the run in one piece.“The run is my strong point and I feel very comfortable on the run.“The best part was having this crowd here and a lot of friends and family and I hope that continues through the Island Games. That’s really the best part, home course advantage.”Jonathan Herring (2:11.13) and Mark Wilcox (2:12.15) finished second and third among the local men.Gibraltar captured the gold medal in the men’s team division while the silver and bronze went to Orkney and Isle of Man.Western Isles won the gold medal in the women’s team division while Guernsey claimed the bronze.