Though it was a three-man event, Mark Morrison gave some credit to another member of the team - his father - in helping land the Bank of Bermuda Team Triathlon title yesterday.

Runner Morrison, who partnered swimmer Steven Kenny and cyclist Jason Krupp in the event in Hamilton, seemed to be a country mile ahead of his nearest rivals after overtaking the long-time leading team of Trevor Johnston (swim), Matthew Herring (cycle) and Logan Alexander (run) on the first lap of the final leg.

However, Neil De St. Croix's never-say-idea attitude saw him cut through the field and inch nearer and nearer the youngster over the six-laps until Morrison's father, Dave, told him to find another gear.

"It wasn't until about the fourth lap that I realised Neil was in third and catching up," said Morrison, whose team finished in 1:35:26. "Then he was in second and I was like `Oh man, here he comes'.

"I definitely picked it up after my dad told me `Neil's coming' and it worked out alright."

The race had started very differently with Canadian national team swimmer, Lisa Blackburn, and Islander Kevin Insley pulling well away from the field in Hamilton Harbour.

Blackburn, who grabbed two silver medals at the recent Pan-Am Games and hopes to swim for Canada at next year's Olympics, set a pace during the two laps that only Insley was able to keep up with, the pair exiting the water within seconds of each other.

"It was a little bit different swimming in the ocean than swimming in the pool," said Blackburn, whose team, consisting of Karen Smith (cycle) and Victoria Fiddick (run), finished second in the female division behind Anne Allain, Melanie Claude and Anna Eatherley.

"You could feel a little bit of the tide because it was going out, but the water temperature was good and it was a lot of fun."

Despite her experience, Blackburn denied she was the favourite in the water.

"I didn't really expect to come first," she said. "I wasn't sure how it would go as I don't usually do open water swimming. It was a little bit of a different environment and the tactics had to be a little bit different too. I went out with Kevin and stayed with those guys for a bit, felt I had a little bit more so I tried to take the lead on the second buoy and it went well after that."

Blackburn's swim put Smith well out in front on the bike but she was gradually reeled in by the second lap with Krupp taking the lead and Herring on her wheel in third.

By lap four Smith, who has only just recovered from a bad fall on the bike and missed out on the previous weekend's individual triathlon, was caught and overtaken by Khamari Greaves and Garth Thomson and had her lead in the women's division slashed by Claude. Herring, meanwhile, was edging Krupp at the front.

With one left to go it appeared Herring had broken Krupp's challenge but the latter bridged across and at transition for the run there was barely a bike length between them.

That put young Alexander in the unenviable position of having such an accomplished runner as Morrison breathing down his neck and he was unable to resist for too long.

Among the women, though, Fiddick laid down a good early pace. Eatherley ate into her lead and with four laps gone had passed her and established a gap she would not relinquish.

But the real glory was Morrison's, the victor finishing ahead of De St.Croix (Ian Maule, Thomson, 1:36:50), Evan Naude, who was teamed with Jamie Pedro and Steven Petty (1:37:03) and Alexander (1:39:18). Coyatito Smith (Dominique Nanette, Khamari Greaves) rounded out the top five, crossing the line in 1:39:46.

"There were a few teams in contention," said Morrison. "I think the first five were all within two minutes of each other. That made it pretty good.

"I just took it out really hard and figured if I ran the first two miles under ten minutes I didn't think there would be many other people who would be able to keep that pace."

Swimmer Kenny said he had wanted to be with the leaders at the end of the swim.

"I had intended to stick with Kevin and Lisa but they just had so much I couldn't do that," he said. "I kept with them for the first leg and then they just left me. I had to change my plan and I stuck with Trevor (Johnston) and we swam together most of the way. The rest of the team did a great job, I wish I could have given them a bit more a lead but . . ."

Krupp said it had been a tough morning thanks to the hard-racing Herring.

"Matthew Herring pushed me pretty hard the whole day," he said. "I wasn't able to put any time on him at all. During the first couple of laps it was probably a bit too hard so I kind of backed off a little bit, but on the last one I tried to make it back up and we finished almost together."

Runner-up De St. Croix said he sensed Morrison slowing but in the end the gap was too big.

"On the last lap he looked as though he had slowed a little but he had such a big lead on me going out it was very difficult," he said.

De St. Croix revealed that it actually took two invites for him to join up with Maule and Thomson.

"I actually was asked to be in the team a few weeks ago and I declined at first because I said I wanted to be in a competitive team," he said. "So I've got egg on my face.

"They did very, very well. The plan was just to go as hard as we possibly could. Ian had an excellent swim, Garth held it on the bike and, going out on the run, I was fortunate that the guy in second (Alexander) went out with Mark and I think that hurt him in the first few laps. I think he suffered and I managed to catch him."

Claude, one part of the victorious female team which finished in 1:42:16, said she knew she had her work cut out for her when she left transition.

"I liked the challenge and this is a course that suits me," she said. "The technical aspect, I love all that kind of stuff.

"I went hard. I really wanted to have a good time trial day because I'm heading off to the Caribbean Championships at the end of this month.

"I wanted to get a gauge of where I am at because I have had some mishaps earlier in the season and my form wasn't totally there. This was a good test for me with only a few weeks to go."

She went on to pay tribute to her team-mates.

"Anne was a newcomer to our team. I didn't know too much about her. A colleague of mine, who had been swimming with her, recommended her to us," she said. "She did great and Anna, of course, is a master in the running aspect of it all and she came through very strong for us. We both had our work cut out for us but we managed to pull through with a good result."

Blackburn, whose team finished in 1:43:25, said she and her team-mates were proud of their efforts, all things considered.

"The girls and I have talked and I think we all at the same spot in our training," she said. "We were all just starting out for the season and we are not in the best shape we could be in. I think if we continue training and got together when we are in peak condition the results may be a little bit different. But I think all three of us are very happy with how we did today."