Championships yesterday in two hours, seven minutes and 30 seconds on a hot, humid morning at the USNAS in St. David's.

The humidity posed such a problem that Shona Palmer, winner of the women's division, struggled once she got beyond the finish line in 2:17.25.

Two other competitors, David Titcombe and John Oberlin were rushed to hospital and treated for heat exhaustion. Titcombe was unable to complete the gruelling course which involved a 1,500 metre swim, 40K bike and 10K run, while Oberlin, an experienced triathlete, still managed to finish 18th overall in 2:25.20.

De ste Croix, known for his prowess on the bike, shone once again in that department by completing the cycle course in 1:04.54, but he also excelled in the run finishing second to Brett Forgesson. He finished the run with a time of 41.32, while Forgesson clocked 37.26.

De ste Croix, whose win was his first in the championships, had considered withdrawing from the event last week because of an illness.

"I was getting very worried on the first lap of the run that I wasn't going to make it,'' he said. "It was a struggle, plus the heat was just killing.

I've never been through such a tough race.'' It wasn't until he was on the bike that de ste Croix felt he might be able to pull off the victory.

"I managed to take the lead just at the end of the bike and I know I'm a stronger runner than Adam Smith and Mike Bouchard and I didn't actually factor Steve Donnelly in until I saw him on the first lap of the run. He pushed really hard in the first lap, but unfortunately he burnt himself out.'' Second overall in the men's division was Donnelly with a time of 2:12.15 while Smith clocked 2:13.41.

"What really stands out is Neil,'' said event director Mark Glusing yesterday. "I mean he was really sick all last week and I really take my hat off to him because today's conditions were really hard. He pulled it off and he won.

"And that was a really tough field, too, Dyrone Minors, Smith, Donnelly, those guys are good triathletes and Neil still came out on top.'' Melanie Claude, with a time of 2:18.21, was second woman to cross the finish line while Jane Christie was third in 2:29.52.

Jeremy Ball led male masters clocking 2:20.35, ahead of Simon Farmer (2:25.26) and George Sutherland (2:26.53).

Neil de ste Croix