Bermuda made a strong start to their title defence at the Carifta Triathlon, Aquathlon and Mixed Team Relay Championships at Clearwater Beach yesterday, collecting eleven medals to end the opening day on 127 points, followed by Trinidad & Tobago with 67 points.

The home team clinched three gold medals, four silver and same number of bronze in the aquathlon events that served as a warm-up for the triathlon races on Saturday.

Oliver Hayward won Bermuda’s first medal with third in the boys’ 16-21. Carina Bortoli secured bronze in the girls’ race of the same age group, with Madison Schindel close behind in fourth.

Hayward was pleased to earn Bermuda some points in a race where most countries did not field some of their top competitors.

“I’m happy to have done it and I’m glad to have got some points for the team,” Hayward told The Royal Gazette.

“A lot of people pulled out of the aquathlon ahead of the race on Saturday, so I thought it’d be good to just do it and get a bit of a warm-up,” Hayward said.

“I came away with the podium, so I’m pretty happy. It wasn’t too long, so I don’t think it’ll take much out of me for Saturday.

“I knew there wasn’t much point in trying to go around Christian Jansen to lead out of the water. I think it takes a lot of effort to get around someone in the water and get much gain from it.

“I was pretty happy sitting on him and then running out of the water and just running two laps of the course.

“Relatively, not easy, but I definitely wasn’t giving it everything. It felt quite controlled, which was a nice feeling, something I don’t really have very often on the run.”

Bortoli felt at ease on a familiar course, putting together a solid swim before closing out with a strong run.

“It felt very comfortable and normal,” the 19-year-old said.

“I’ve done that course tons of times, training and other races, so I definitely knew where I was going and what I was doing.

“I had a decent swim. I was a little bit stuck behind people at the start, but I worked my way up. Then I had a pretty good run and my legs felt pretty fresh.

“Our distance was cut in half to where our normal platform was, so it was a lot more like a sprint.”

The University of Stirling student is hoping for another good result in the triathlon today, where she expects the competition to be stiff.

“I’m also competing in the triathlon on Saturday,” she said.

“It’s definitely a strong field of girls, so I don’t exactly know how I’m going to do or perform.

“But I’m just hoping that I have another good race like I did in the aquathlon, hopefully, my legs will be feeling fresh and not too tired.”

In the 15-16 boys, Rory Shepherd bagged silver, with Sanchez Smith adding to Bermuda’s points by making a good run for fifth. Riana Robinson clinched third in the same age group for girls.

Bermuda enjoyed plenty of success in the 13-14 age group, where Ethan Smith took gold for the boys and Spencer Haldeman finished second. Colette Durkin led the clean sweep for the girls in that age group, with Elena Bortoli and Evelyn Fahy completing the podium.

Smith was thrilled to fend off strong competition from Haldeman for his first Carifta medal, after a bike crash denied him a podium spot two years ago.

“I feel really good about winning as I pushed pretty hard on the run,” the 14-year-old said.

“I thought my mate Spencer was going to catch me, but I just upped the pace for the last lap.

“I’m really happy to do it in front of friends and family who cheered me on. It really helped a lot to achieve this.”

“Hopefully, I can get a medal in the triathlon as well and we’ll just see what happens in the mixed team relay.”

Durkin felt capturing her first Carifta medal came as a shock, as it exceeded her own expectations for the event.

“I’m just like so happy to win my first medal at home,” she said.

“Everyone just came up and congratulated me. It’s just such a special community to be here.

“I never thought I could do this, I just surprised myself and I had a great race. The swim was long but I like that because I never want to get out of the water.

“I thought was pretty good, but the run, I had a bad stitch at the beginning for the first quarter, it went away and then I could really speed up and do my best.”

The 13-year-old is also competing in triathlon where she is hoping for another great result.

“I’m going to do the triathlon on Saturday and probably the relay too,” she said.

“Hopefully, I just have good races. I’m hoping to podium again but we’ll just have to see how that goes.”

After her first taste of success, Elena Bortoli will be pushing hard in the triathlon today.

“I’m really happy to get my first medal at Carifta, so I’m hoping I can do it again in the triathlon,” she said.

“My best moment was probably when I came down the finish line and saw everybody there. It was pretty cool and really exciting to see all the people cheering the way they did.”

Eva Desjardins, racing for Bermuda for the first time, claimed the island's third gold of the day in the girls’ 12-13 race, with Madeleine Friend close behind.

“I’m very happy with myself as that’s the result of the effort I put into my training,” Desjardins said.

“I like the swim a lot better because I’ve always been a swimmer and I just recently started triathlon, which is really nice for me and then the run is not my best out of the three, but I still like running.

“It was really fun having a lot of supporters out there to support me when I win. I kept checking where Madeleine Friend was because people were cheering me and I thought she was right behind me.”

Friend was delighted to make the podium after missing out on a medal last year in Trinidad & Tobago.

“Finishing second was really good as I’m not a strong swimmer, but my run definitely carried me all the way,” she said.

“Being second is a major achievement for me. I didn’t get on the podium last year so I’ve come a long way.”

Alec Shepherd, the Bermuda head coach, commended the athletes for putting the island ahead.

“Our team has had a brilliant first day,” he said.

“With three winners, another eight on the podium and 23 of the team scoring points, our athletes have put Bermuda in a formidable position in the lead. They will have to rest up and dig deep to finish the job, but I know they have it in them.

“They are a great group, they support each other and give everything. Let’s see what Saturday brings.”