Bermuda Triathlon Association?s first major event of the season ? the Pirates Port Senior and Junior Triathlons ? is set to take place this Saturday and Sunday at Southside in St. David?s.

Sunday?s senior events will feature an Olympic distance race consisting of a 1500 metre swim, 40 kilometre bike ride and 10K run as well as a sprint distance event over 750 metres swim, 20K bike and 5K run.

The sprint race will incorporate a team event and there will also be a super sprint event aimed at novices, made up of a 350 metre swim, 10K bike and 2.5 kilometre run.

With a number of the Island?s top triathletes opting to compete over the sprint distance, this race should provide the closest finish.

Jamie Brown, who won the World Championship qualifier in March and will be competing in next month?s World Championships in Portugal, will start as one of the favourites along with Evan Naude who won the recent National Duathlon Championships.

Naude is not regarded as a particularly strong swimmer and it is here that Brown will need to establish an advantage if he is to have any chance of holding off Naude on the run.

Last year, up and coming junior Geoffrey Smith made his presence felt in the senior ranks, winning the National Sprint Triathlon Championships, but he will need to have made a significant improvement over the winter and be on good form if he?s to have any chance of beating either Brown or Naude.

Others to watch will be juniors Coyatito Smith and Khamari Greaves, who will also be going to the World Championships.

Junior competitor Matthew Godfrey, who posted an impressive time of one hour and nine minutes over this distance in Florida over Easter, is also expected to do well while another junior, Flora Duffy, will be the favourite to take overall women?s honours in the sprint event in what is expected to be a small female field.

The Olympic distance event should be dominated by Riaan Naude, second to his brother Evan in the National Duathlon Championships, and Deanna McMullen.

Naude will have just arrived back from a week-long training camp in Florida with top Canadian coach Barrie Shepley. However, he has has been hampered in recent weeks by a knee injury which could affect his performance leaving the way open for close rival Norbert Meyer.

McMullen?s confidence was lifted after an excellent result two weeks ago in California in the prestigious Ralph?s Half Ironman Triathlon in which she finished ninth in her age group. Caroline Mitchell is expected to be McMullen?s closest rival.

Tomorrow?s junior triathlon for ages six to 15 in both racing and mountain bike categories and teams is expected to attract a large field.

The most competitive age group should be the boys? 12-13 over a course made up of a 400m swim, 15K bike and 3K run.

With his strong swim and run, Dorian Armstrong will start at the favourite but Tim Fox could pull off an upset if he can use his superior cycling ability to open up a gap going into the run.

Geoffrey Burns and Marc Smith will be two others to watch.

The girls? 12 to 13 age group could see a close race between Ashley Fox and Caitlin Miller while the 14-15 age group over the same distance should result in a family one-two for the Godfrey brothers with Matthew a clear favourite and brother Thomas a strong bet for second place.

Amy Fox is likely to be unchallenged among the girls.

In the younger age groups, David Lunn and Sophie Adams will be hard to beat in the 10-11 division over a 200m swim, 10K bike and 2K run with Alex Godfrey, Brighton Swan, Scott Sims and Vaughn Barritt among the boys and Martina Edney among the girls likely contenders for a top three finish.

Nathan Amaral should take the boys? eight to nine race and Jazmine Outerbridge, who is emerging as a real star of the future, is expected to dominate the same age group among the girls.

Entry forms for both days are available from Sportseller and Winners Edge Bike Shop or at www.bta.bm.