Tyler Smith feels that a rival fumbling with his wetsuit during a rough swim may have cost him a higher finish in Namibia on Saturday.

During the 750-metre swim at the World Triathlon Cup in Swakopmund, one of Smith’s rivals pulled down the Bermudian’s wetsuit zip, allowing it to fill with water and slowing him down enough to miss out on the front group before eventually finishing tenth.

Although satisfied with his result and reluctant to claim the incident was intentional, Smith was left in no doubt that it impacted his performance.

“I was really happy with where I’ve come out of the off-season physically and a top-ten finish is solid but not anything spectacular,” he said.

“It’s what I would expect of myself at this level of racing and a good way to start off the season but if there is any disappointment it was just that another athlete grabbed hold of my wetsuit and pulled the zipper on the second lap of the swim.

“That’s primarily what cost me a spot in the front group coming out of the water and set me up with a bit of a deficit. At this sort of race, there’s not a ton of guys coming from behind to help you bridge that gap.

“I don’t think it was anything intentional from another athlete. It’s just sometimes your hand gets tangled in someone else’s suit, but it made the last 200 metres of the swim pretty challenging because the suit basically fills up with water and instead of acting as an aid, it’s almost a resistance.”

Smith has a quick turnaround with his next race taking place over the Olympic distance in Mosell Bay, South Africa, this weekend. With his fitness in place, Smith is working on marginal gains.

“A lot of the work that I’ve been doing over the last year has been with a mental skills coach,” he said.

“A lot of that is just about trying to keep the highs not too high and the lows not too low. Basically as soon as my last race finished it’s just returning to the process and trying to obviously learn from it.

“As soon as the race finishes, we’re thinking about recovery and getting in our nutrition and trying to get a good sleep the night after. With only a week between races, the focus really is on recovery and then just getting the body in a good place to go again on Sunday.”

For the last couple of years, Smith has battled with injury and recovery from surgeries and a huge positive he takes from his opening race on the circuit is the lack of pain while competing

“The one-year anniversary of my injury has come and gone,” Smith said.

“That was a good time for reflection and to realise what a long way I’ve come in 12 months. The big change is I’m now at a stage where I’m not thinking about my Achilles every time I run and I’m not thinking about my wrists when I’m swimming.

“In that sense I’ve definitely put the injuries to bed but it takes time to now be in a position where I can trust the body and push hard again in training.

“We can take the handbrake off a little and start to try to get to a new level. I started January 1 at square one and was just able to build really well during the winter. Physically and mentally the injury is in the rear-view mirror and fading into the distance.

“The scars on the body are obviously still there but I’m no longer thinking about it on a day-to-day basis and certainly not in the racing environment.”

Smith now has his eye on the rest of 2026 and there is one intriguing date in May that has piqued his interest.

“I’m targeting a European Cup race in Spain at the end of April but after that I might come back home and run May 24,” he said.

“I feel like I want to give that a shot and see what I can do over that distance. I want to challenge myself in a new way before the next two years of Olympic qualification starts.

“I also have the CAC Games, which is a big race for me as is the Pan American Championships, but I'll really be focused on that once the Olympic qualification period starts.”