Triathletes from the TriHedz Club have returned triumphant from a huge meet in Chicago at the weekend.

Molly Pilgrim was first out of 98 girls in the girls 11-12 age group with a time of 28.44, while Justin Ferreira beat nearly 500 youngsters to take gold in two age groups.

However Saturday's event turned into a duathlon as the swim had to be axed.

Storms two days earlier had caused high levels of sewage which had to be pumped into Lake Michigan too close to the swim site causing a risk of e-coli infection.

Thus kids of all age groups began with a 1K run, followed by their scheduled bike and run distances.

Bermuda had a string of top ten finishes in the youngest age group of 7-10 year olds who did a 1K run, 4K bike and 1K run.

Justin Ferreira, with a time of 15.54, was first out of 126 boys in the 9-10 age group, and first overall out of a total of 495 boys and girls in the 7-10 division.

Nico Barclay, with a time of 17.33, was second in the 9-10 boys, and third overall in 7-10s age group.

Charlie Pilgrim with a time of 18.27 was fifth in the boys 9-10, and seventh overall in the 7-10s group while Katie Page with a time of 20.23 was tenth out of 151 in the girls 9-10, and 38th out of 495 overall.

Parent Ian Pilgrim, who attended, said there were more than 830 young triathletes competing in the McDonald's Kids Triathlon in Chicago making it the largest youth triathlon in the world.

He added: "Everyone acquitted themselves fantastically. We woke up to torrential rain at 6 a.m. on race morning, which thankfully eased off by the time the older kids got underway at about 9.30 after the Super Sprint.

"It was a fantastic set of results and they all did Bermuda proud.

"It was great seeing them in their TriHedz gear and they got a special mention from the commentator. A lot of local parents were asking just exactly where in Illinois Bermuda was."

Bermuda's girls did great in the 11-14 year olds catogory with athletes tackling a 1K run, a 8K bike race and a 2K run.

In the girls 11-12 age group, out of 98 competitors, Molly Pilgrim was first in a time of 28.44, the first female overall in the 11-14 division, and 11th overall (boys and girls) out of 343 in the 11-14 division.

Meanwhile Annabella Doyle was fourth in the girls 11-12 category in a time of 30.56, and the seventh female and 27th overall in the 11-14 division, while Kamryn Minors was fifth in the girls 11-12 in a time of 31.41, as well as being ninth female and 30th overall in the 11-14 division.

Chris Page and Dermot Caslin, both parents of TriHedz club members, competed in the Olympic distance event which feature a one mile swim, 40K bike and 10K run at the Chicago Accenture Triathlon on Sunday.

With over 8,500 competitors, it is the biggest triathlon event in the world, said Mr. Pilgrim.

With a time of 2.29.21, Chris Page was 41st out of 414 competitors in the male 40-44 age group, and 251st overall out of 3,928 competitors.

Dermot Caslin completed the event in a time of 2.34.01 to place him 62nd in the Male 40-44 age group, and 415th overall out of 3928 competitors.