Three of Bermuda's best triathletes will put their bodies on the line when they take on the mother of all Ironmans in Hawaii.

Karen Bordage, Karen Smith and Alex Jones head to the Aloha State for next weekend's Ford Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, regarded as the sport's pinnacle event.

Bordage and Smith qualified by producing outstanding performances in their first ever Ironman in Florianopolis, Brazil, in May. Canadian Bordage finished the exhausting 3.8 kilometre swim, 180 kilometre bike ride and 48 kilometre run just behind Smith in the 35-39 category.

Both athletes, aged 39, have been clocking up the training hours together in preparation for arguably the biggest, and most challenging, event of their careers.

"The Hawaii Ironman is viewed as the pinnacle Ironman event," said Bordage who squeaked through the back door after an athlete in a senior age category failed to finish. "There's so much mystique surrounding it and I couldn't believe it when I qualified.

"I'm now aware what I've got myself into and somehow that knowledge is even more scary. But it's my first Hawaii Ironman and I'm so excited.

"I've only dabbled in triathlon recently as I've a running background. I've really had to work on my swimming and cycling. I'd say I'm quite a weak swimmer and my cycling is ok, so I hope to be in a decent position going into the run."

Bermudian Smith, a former Commonwealth athlete, describes Hawaii as the "spiritual home" of Ironman. She qualified despite having the odds stacked against her having undergone knee surgery earlier in the year.

"The Hawaii Ironman has been going for over 25 years and it's sort of the spiritual home of Ironman. I suppose it's the pinnacle event in the Ironman calender. I've been doing the shorter triathlon distances for about 11 years but wanted something different so I went for the Ironman.

"It was my first in Brazil and I was amazed to qualify as I hadn't even trained properly."

Alex Jones qualified after winning his age group at an Ironman in Arizona earlier this year. The Hawaii Ironman features a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile cycle ride and 26.2 mile run.

Steven Petty, president of the Bermuda Triathlon Association, said it was an amazing feat for three Bermudians to qualify for the Hawaii Ironman.

"It's certainly not an event for the faint of heart," he said. "Sometimes Bermuda gets a wild card, but it's great these three have qualified in their own right."

Meanwhile, some of the Island's top triathletes will be competing in the Bank of Bermuda Individual Triathlon tomorrow, starting at 9.30 a.m. at Albouy's Point in Hamilton.

With reigning champion Tyler Butterfield off the Island, the Naude twins, Evan and Riaan, are among the favourites to take the title.

Evan, who hails from South Africa, won the race in 2005, while 2006 Trunk Island Swim winner John Legge and former US Olympic hopeful Chris Estwanik will also be involved. Kim McMullen and Julia Hawley look the strongest of the female contenders.