Pre-race favourite Jonathan Herring lived up to expectations as he powered his way to victory in yesterday’s Bank of Bermuda Foundation Triathlon in St George’s.The top athlete completed the half-mile swim, 20k bike and 5k run in a combined time of one hour, one minute and 51 seconds to savour a maiden win in this particular event.“It was awesome to win my first Bank of Bermuda Triathlon and I think I definitely chose a good year to win it because this is the best course we’ve had in a while,” said Herring. “It was a choppy, good open water swim and then the bike had a bit of everything and the run was just tough.“I’ve been competing in this event since I was nine-years-old and now I’m 29 so it definitely feels good to win. I just love to race whether I win or not.”Herring took early control of the race and never let up until he crossed the finish line in King’s Square in a torrential downpour.“I felt pretty smooth and more than anything I was up for it,” he said. “I just wanted to get the bit between my teeth and let if fly.”Even though he entered the race as the clear favourite to win, Herring took nothing for granted especially with a number of strong runners in the field.“Evan (Naude) was in the race so I knew I had to dig deep on the swim and bike because he’s so outrageously talented on a runner’s course like that,” he said. “That course doesn’t really suit me so someone like Evan could’ve eaten into my times. I just wanted to get a big lead and make it hurt good.”Naude (1:04.43) and past Winter Olympian Tucker Murphy (1:05.44) rounded off the podium finishers among the men’s field.Taking the women’s title this year was Karen Smith who crossed the line sixth overall in a time of one hour, seven minutes and 55 seconds.It was the veteran athlete’s first appearance in this event, which she has won in the past, in several years.Smith, 44, was pleased with her performance on the new race course.“It was a tough little course from what it’s been before and a really nice change,” she said. “We were swimming in the harbour and the water was quite choppy and that really favoured the stronger swimmers.“The bike course, although it was flat, there was a lot of winding roads you had to negotiate pretty well and the wind on the bike was quite strong. Then you had the traffic; trying to outrun cars and that sort of thing so you had to be really alert on the bike.“The running was perhaps the most challenging with the hill at the beginning (Barrick’s Hill) and then on the backside there’s another gradual hill (Granadier Lane) that you don’t start to feel until the third lap. But it was a beautiful downhill finish so once you get over that last bit you are home free.”Laurie Orchard (1:11.36) and Emma O’Connell (1:13.17) rounded off the top three finishers in the women’s field respectively.Full adult, junior and team results, see Page 14.