Championships in Cancun, Mexico, with a week of intensive training under their belts.

Kris Hedges, 15, and Jonathan Herring, 12, were allowed time off school this week to join more than 100 other youngsters from around the globe as guests of the International Triathlon Union and the International Olympic Committee at the first ITU/IOC Junior Triathlon training camp in Cancun.

And tomorrow they'll have the distinction of competing in the first ITU Junior B (13-15) world championships over a sprint course which will comprise a .75 kilometre swim, 20K bike ride and 5K run.

Those distances are exactly half that to be covered in the senior event which will feature thousands of age group competitors, including a party of 20 from Bermuda.

Hedges and Herring, who placed first and second respectively in the Bermuda Junior National Triathlon Championships earlier this year, have been among the most active in a junior programme run by Dave Morrison and top local competitor Neil de Ste Croix, and were among a group sent to the British National Youth Cycling Week by the Bermuda Bicycling Association.

Said Morrison: "At 15, Kris probably ranks among Bermuda's top ten triathletes, having finished eighth in the Snickers Sprint Triathlon last month, and we expect him to produce an excellent time in Cancun.

"Jonathan, as he is just 12, is racing by special permission of the ITU. He has also proved himself to be very capable over the sprint distance, particularly for an athlete of his age.'' TRI CHAMPS -- Kris Hedges (left) and Jonathan Herring.