Jens Drea and Naomi MacGuinness triumphed in the 36th Clarien Bank Iron Kids Triathlon at Clearwater Beach on Saturday.

Drea, who was taking part in the race for the last time before he becomes ruled out by age, was the first across the finish line in the boys 11-15 in 21min 42.89 sec. Ethan Smith was second in 23:17.10, while a time of 25:07.40 secured third position for Ronan Davidge.

The ever dominant MacGuinness won the girls 11-15 for the second year running in 23:51.90. Robinson, who was making her final appearance, clocked 24:21.33 to clinch second, while Colette Durkin completed the podium positions in 24:35.59.

It was an improvement by two places for Drea, who was third in the race last year. He received an early fifteenth birthday present of $1,000 in prize money.

“I’ve been hoping to win it for a really long time and it’s just great that I’ve finally done it,” Drea told The Royal Gazette.

“It’s awesome that the Bermuda Triathlon Association puts events like this together. It’s great to have Clarien Bank and Winners Edge as sponsors.

“I enjoyed the bike the most because of the wind. There was a nice tailwind on the way back, so you got to go pretty fast, I thought that was a lot of fun, the nice fast corners and turnarounds.

“Most of my competitors are my really close friends. It’s really fun to compete with them, it's really competitive and it's exciting.”

MacGuinness was pleased to put on a strong performance as she gradually builds on her form.

“I am delighted to get the win,” she said.

“My expectations going into the race were low as it has been a slow start to the season for me after taking some time away from training over the last few months.

“The race went well — I got through the swim OK and knew I would be able to make up ground on the bike, which I did and was able to carry it through on the run.

“The wind was tough to deal with on the bike and it was very warm. With this format it is hard to know where you stand, so I focused on just pushing myself to the end and fortunately I was able to get first place.”

Robinson bounced back from fifth a year ago with a strong display in her last appearance as a competitor at the event.

“ I'm very happy because usually I don’t really do well in these races but I did really well today,” the 14-year-old said.

“The swim was very nice, the current was really good and it was kind of pushing me to go faster.

“On the bike, the younger competitors were an obstacle. I had to weave around them and they were kind of holding me up a little bit, but it was a really good bike, then the run felt pretty good and it was very smooth.

“The competition from the rest of the girls was great. It pushed me to go faster and I raced really hard.

“I’m really going to miss this race, the atmosphere has been very positive. We always have a lot of people, we just support each other and it’s very much fun.”

Smith, who improved from sixth last year, was saddened by one of the pre-race favourites Spencer Haldeman being unable to finish after getting a flat tyre. The runner-up won $500.

“I was pretty happy to finish second and unfortunately my friend Spencer got a flat tyre,” Smith said.

“I think I did well on the bike and on the run, but the swim was the most favourite part of the race for me.”

There was double joy for the Davidge family as Elliot took the honours in the boys 7-10.

“I really enjoyed the race and I like the competition,” Elliot said.

“It was a tough competition and everyone did their best. I think it’s the quick transitions and the run that won it for me.”

After years of having trouble on the bike leg, Ronan was delighted to improve from eleventh last year to a spot on the podium.

“I gave everything I had and it was a good race,” the 13-year-old said.

“I want to thank the coaches, especially Alex Waldauer, who’s worked really hard with me to perfect my swim stroke to get it faster and better.

“I’m really happy to finally get a good race at the Clarien Iron Kids Triathlon because I’ve seemed to have awful luck with it. I’ve had three punctures in the last three, so I’m really happy to get a result.”

It was also a twin celebration for the Durkins, with mother Maddie keenly following proceedings a few weeks after winning the women’s race at the Bermuda Half-Marathon Derby, Chloe, the youngest of the two sisters, won the girls 7-10.

Colette felt that she should have pushed harder after finishing second last year.

“It was a nice race and I was comfortable,” the 13-year-old said.

“I probably could have gone more out of my comfort zone. The swim was good, I could have gone faster on the bike, but I didn’t want to accidentally draft people and the run was probably the best part for me.

“I’m so happy for my sister and I knew she was going to do well. I have two years left and it would be nice to win it before I become ineligible.”

Chloe spoke of how worrying about her bike prevented her from riding faster.

“It’s nice to win,” the 10-year-old said.

“I feel like I could have gone a bit faster on the bike because I felt like my chain was scratching on the ground. I sort of slowed down and kept looking down and then my bike kept wobbling.”