In the week that superstar Dame Flora Duffy retired from competition, Erica Hawley showed that there is still plenty to look forward to from Bermudian triathletes.

After a disappointing outing when twentieth in Mexico in her previous race and forced to pull out of the Americas Triathlon Championships Antofagasta with niggling injuries, Hawley bounced back in style by finishing sixth in the World Triathlon Cup Edmonton on.

Racing against a stacked field, Hawley outperformed her world ranking of 111 to finish just seven seconds off a place on the podium.

The 26-year-old completed the 750m swim, the 20.5km bike and 5km run in 1hr 0min 23sec to finish sixth, just over a couple of minutes behind the winner Taylor Knibb, from the United States, who completed the course in 58:35.

Marta Kropko, from Hungary, finished second in 59:39 and Italian Paola Sacchi (1:00.16), finished just a few metres ahead of Hawley who was involved in a fight at the finish for positions between third and eighth.

After she had made her way home to Bermuda, Hawley revealed how delighted she was with her performance.

“I am extremely happy to finish sixth and It was exactly the result I was looking for after Huatulco to start my Olympic journey again,” Hawley said.

“It felt like a riskier decision to race here since the start list was a lot stronger than most World Cups and there were 60 women starting, but I felt the minimal travel and the timing suited much better with my goals this year. I also love racing in Canada and the last few years I’ve had some of my best results here.”

It is always important for professional athletes to learn from each experience and Hawley is already analysing the race for any marginal gains.

“What I’m most proud of is the swim and lap one of the bike,” she said.

“This part of the triathlon has been one of my weaknesses but I had one of my best swims and was really aggressive on the first lap of the bike, which meant that I was in the first chase pack.

“It was a hard course so i knew the first 3km of the bike would be all out and I was strong here. I am also proud of my resilience to bounce back after racing in Huatulco and having one of my worst 5K runs for a while.

“I felt a lot more in control and got into a rhythm on the run from the get-go. I didn’t have the sprint for the podium but overall had a very solid swim, bike and run. It’s really hard to mentally come back from a bad result and I believe that shows lots of growth and maybe shows some veteran mentality.”

With confidence coursing through her veins, Hawley is now looking forward to her next couple of races.

“Next up is Rio World Cup on August 2 and then Asuncion World Cup on August 9,” Hawley said.

“The goal for this race block is to get lots of Olympic points banked and I am really happy to start off with this sixth place and then hopefully build from it.”