Bermuda retained their status as the Carifta Triathlon, Aquathlon and Mixed Relay champions when the competition concluded at Clearwater Beach on Saturday.

After clinching 11 medals on Friday, the island’s young athletes added another 15 podium spots in blustery conditions on Saturday as Bermuda finished the competition with 329 points.

It was Bermuda’s second consecutive team title following their maiden success in Trinidad & Tobago last year. The competition began in 2017

Barbados, who were expected to give the home team a good challenge, settled for second on 148 points, while Trinidad were third with 141 points.

Gianluca Bortoli warmed up for the Youth Olympic Games in Senegal by winning silver in the 16-21 elite men division. In a contest won by Fynn Armstrong, of Barbados, in 57min 12sec, the Bermudian came second in 58:24.

Oliver Hayward, Jackson Langley and Dylan Eiselt added crucial points to Bermuda’s tally with top-eight finishes.

Bortoli, who leaves for the West African country on Monday, was delighted to claim silver in a race he felt did not go according to plan.

“I was super happy with my finish,” Bortoli told The Royal Gazette.

“To be honest, the race really didn’t go my way with the technical bits, but my fitness was there and I was just so happy to do what I did. I believe Fynn Armstrong raced really well and I don’t think I could have caught him.

“My swim wasn’t great, but definitely huge improvements from last year. I was out a bit from the front group and I just had to work my bike really hard.

“Ollie Hayward was on the front and he tore the race apart, which really worked in my favour because everyone was by themselves.”

Madison Schindel was the first Bermuda athlete across the line in the 16-21 elite women. She clocked 1:11:45 to finish fifth in a race won by Rebecca Jansen, from Aruba, in 1:05:09.

Rory Shepherd, who won silver in the aquathlon on Friday, dominated from start to finish in the 15-26 boys super sprint, winning in 30:37.

“Getting silver and gold was good, so I’m very happy with the result,” Shepherd said.

“The guys I was competing with were all really good, so it was a very hard competition. They’re all good at all three of the different sports in the triathlon, so it was hard for me to maintain my spot near the front for the whole thing.

“It’s pretty exciting for us to win the whole competition. We got lots of points from the whole team and it’s great to be champions for the second year in a row.”

Sofia Leclerc picked up bronze in the 15-16 girls super sprint and she was closely followed by Riana Robinson.

“It was really exciting to get my first individual medal in front of the home fans,” Leclerc said.

“I came out of the water second and the bike was pretty hard, but I had one of my friends helping me. We worked together and then we just ran and it was really windy but other than that it was good.”

Spencer Haldeman upgraded his aquathlon silver to gold in the 13-14 super sprint, crossing the line in 31:33. Ethan Smith, who finished first on Friday, was third.

“It was a perfect weekend and I couldn’t have asked for anything better,” Haldeman said.

“A big thank you to my family, coaches and team-mates for pushing me through this. I enjoyed the run as always, the swim wasn’t great for me, I came out a little bit further back from where I wanted to, but I quickly caught up in transition.

“On the first lap of the bike, I just hammered it. I went out flying, trying to catch everyone in front of me. Eventually, Ethan Smith, who had a great swim and was in the front, dropped back and that made it a little bit easier to catch everybody in one go.

“In the second lap, after I caught them, I eased off a bit so I could save my legs for the run.

“On the run, I just hammered the first lap. On the second lap I was opening up a gap, realising it was all going to go well and it was just the best feeling ever.”

Colette Durkin repeated her exploits from Friday by completing a double gold in the 13-14 girls super sprint. She led a Bermuda podium sweep with Naomi MacGuinness second and Elena Bortoli third, while Evelyn Fahy came in fourth.

Eva Desjardins also completed a perfect weekend of individual racing by clinching her second gold in the 11-12 youth, where Madeleine Friend was the second female across the line. Niklas Bock picked up his first medal of the competition with bronze in the boys race in the same age group.

Bermuda finished strong in the mixed team relays. The seniors bagged silver and bronze, while the juniors took gold and bronze.