Erica Hawley finished a credible fifth of a competitive 72 starters in the elite women at the Americas Triathlon Cup Gulfport, in Mississippi, today.

Hawley completed the race in 1hr 00min 36sec, just over a minute behind the winner, Kelly Wetteland, from the United States, who crossed the line in 59:35.

The Bermudian clocked 9:54 in the 750m swim, 29:41 in the 20km bike ride and 19:16 in the 5km run.

“I was really happy with today’s result,” Hawley told The Royal Gazette.

“After racing two weeks ago in Dallas, I was a little underwhelmed with that result and performance. I was honestly going into this race with a lot of 70.3 training under my belt so I was unsure how my body would respond in a sprint distance.

“I had an OK swim, it was an in-water start with 70 girls so I knew that it was likely going to be pretty aggressive. At the start we were supposed to hold on to a rope and it was obvious that many athletes were not doing this and had a pretty big advantage.

“The bike was a two-lap course that was flat and fast. I was in the chase pack with many of the favourites in the race and we worked OK together.

“I was most nervous for the run as I haven’t really done any speed work this year. I surprised myself and ran really well and I think it was useful to see that I can execute a fast 5km on the training that I was doing.

“I had to keep engaged until the very end and was able to get fifth place in the last couple minutes of the race.”

After racing in Mississippi a week after the Ironman 70.3 Dallas Little Elm in Texas, the 27-year-old is headed back to Boulder, Colorado, to focus on recuperating.

While the Word Triathlon schedule indicates Hawley’s next race as the World Triathlon Championship Series Samarkand, in Kazakhstan, on April 25, she is not certain if she is making that trip.

“I’m travelling back to Boulder and having a recovery week before planning for the rest of the year,” the Olympian said.

“I am unsure of what my next race will be, but this race really validated that I still love short distance races and it got me excited for the Olympic cycle coming up in May.”

Competing in the elite men at the same race was another Bermudian, Nicholas Pilgrim, who settled for 27th of 60 in 55:52. Pilgrim’s time in the swim was 9:11, 26:27 in the bike and 18:36 in the run.

“I didn’t have the best start in the swim so came out the water a bit further down then I would’ve liked and missed the front group of nine on the bike,” Pilgrim said.

“I was in the chase group with about 40 others and I felt good although not many people were willing to work, so we didn’t gain much time back on the front group at all.

“I felt strong heading out for the run and was happy with how I ran. The course was quite a lot longer than 5K, so all the run times were a fair bit slower. But for the first race of the season I am quite pleased with how it went.”

Pilgrim is heading home before he goes back to join his training group in Bath. The next race for the 23-year-old is the Americas Triathlon Cup Ixtapa, in Mexico, on May 16.