Tyler Smith picked up another medal for Bermuda at the Central American and Caribbean Games on Saturday morning.

Smith finished third in the triathlon after an aggressive race characterised by attempting to break away from the lead group of six on the bike leg on a few occasions.

The Bermuda Half-Marathon Derby champion was forced to cope with extremely hot and humid conditions, while high waves and a choppy sea state in the Port of Sant Souci made for a difficult opening leg.

But Smith coped well exiting the water in sixth place after completing the 1.5-kilometre swim leg in 17min 53sec.

He was then the most aggressive rider on the 40km bike leg, attempting to get a break on the field on a few occasions but was forced to fight it out on the 10km run leg with his closest rivals.

Mexican Antonio Penaflor was too good and pulled away for an easy win but Smith was involved in a prolonged battle with Matthew Wright, from Barbados, for the silver medal, with Smith giving best only inside the final few hundred metres.

Smith’s final time was 1:46:21, 53 seconds behind winner Penaflor and 12 seconds behind runner-up Wright.

After the race, Smith revealed his delight at picking up a medal for Bermuda at a major Games.

“I was really happy with the race overall,” Smith said.

“I had the expectation that I really wanted to come here and deliver a medal and get a medal for Bermuda on the medal table. So mission accomplished on that front and I’m really, really proud of that.”

Smith’s aggressive tactics on the bike was down in large part to his familiarity with Penaflor, who was the pre-race favourite for the gold medal.

“I tried to be aggressive and basically sat second position in the entire swim until the guys behind were all able to catch a wave and just come in ahead of me,” he said.

“It is what it is and a group of six of us got established on the bike after lap one but the problem was that I knew the best runner in the race was Peñaflor.

“I know him really well because we actually live together in Girona. I knew he was the danger man and that meant that I had to be aggressive on the bike and try some attacks. There were a couple of times where I had a bit of a gap, but it was such a flat course and really hard to establish anything of significance.

“Credit to him and the other guys as they did well to work together to pull me back but it was great to be in a race and being able to think about what I needed to do to try to win.”

This is the first uninterrupted healthy season Smith has had for a number of years and he feels that is reward for relocating to Spain as he tries to make it to his second Olympic Games after competing in Paris in 2024.

“A lot of the consistency is due to the changes that I’ve made,: he said.

“I invest so much into this. It’s my entire life and I’ve moved my entire life to Spain. I work with some of the best coaches in the sport. I've brought on board physios, nutritionists and mental skills people.

“My family has helped me so much. A lot goes into being able to be consistent and produce these performances. Last year was really a year of reflection and just figuring out what it’s going to take to perform on a regional level, a continental level and then eventually an Olympic level.”

Nicholas Pilgrim was also representing Bermuda in the race, finishing fifteenth in 1:53:44