Gianluca Bortoli and Sofia Leclerc stole the show at the Cambridge Beaches Bermuda Triathlon on Sunday, powering to dominant wins in the adult individual sprint races in a record field of 200 participants.

Bortoli held off a strong challenge from Dylan Eiselt to take the overall title in 59:17.53, with Eiselt second in 1:01:00.78 and Oliver Brunnock third in a time of 1:03:03.48.

Leclerc was first female home in 1:13:07.78, ahead of Riana Robinson (1:14:13.55) and Helena Hines (1:16:19.73).

Strong winds forced organisers to switch the 750-metre swim from Long Bay to Mangrove Bay, with Bortoli and Eiselt exiting the water together behind Craig Munden, who was racing in a mixed-relay team.

The pair then battled Conor White through the 20km bike leg before heading out together on the 5km run, where the Youth Olympian was faster to claim his maiden victory.

“I’m really happy to come away with the win,” Bortoli told The Royal Gazette.

“It’s always nice to have a full circle moment in a race that I’ve done for the past three years at this distance.

“It was definitely a tough race, I was really fighting from start to finish and luck was on my side. Dylan was just so strong and I was quite happy with my run at the end.

“The run-up to transition was really hard. Other than that, I liked the swim out that way because we were able to swim for more of it without dolphin diving, but the water was cold, which is always never too nice.

“It was super windy on the bike course and it was really just fighting from start to finish trying to stay with Dylan. We were together for the start of the first lap of the run and I just slowly added time.

“Dylan gave me really good competition. It’s always nice to have someone that I can count on to really compete against day in and day out.”

After winning the super sprint last year, Leclerc stepped up to test herself in the adult division.

“It was my first sprint triathlon and I think it went really well,” the 15-year-old said.

“The wind was tough, but other than that, it was great. The wind was blowing me a little bit to the side but it was overall a good race, I had a good swim.

“I had some ground to cover in the bike and run after coming out of the water third. The bike is my strongest, so when I finished the bike and got onto the run I was just trying to hold my place as I wasn’t sure about where I was going to be.

“I knew I was ahead and just hoped no one was going to catch me on the run, which never happened.”

Eiselt was pleased with his effort after finishing seventh a year ago in his first attempt at the sprint distance.

“I was very happy to finish second,” he said.

“I’d say I had one of my better swims. Coming out with Luca, he and I came out neck and neck.

“There was someone in front of us and he was in a relay, so we were the first full triathletes coming out of the water. I came to the transition on the bike first and tried to put together a good run.

“Luca was absolutely moving on the run. I could not hold his pace, so at that point I was just running my race and pushing myself.

“I might have hung on for like maybe not even a kilometre, then I could tell he was going very fast, so I backed off of it.”

While she could have raced in the shorter distance with the 11-15 age group, just like Leclerc, the 15-year-old Robinson opted for a challenging sprint.

“It was an amazing new experience,” Robinson said.

“I am grateful to the Bermuda Triathlon Association for giving me the opportunity to challenge myself and compete in the sprint distance.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and look forward to stepping up into my new age group and taking on new racing opportunities in the coming season.”

White was sixth in his first adult sprint since competing at the Clarien Iron Kids Triathlon as a youngster. The elite rider clocked 26:46, the fastest bike split of the day, to finish in 1:05:57.52.

Following closely behind White was another top cyclist, Alexander Miller, who was seventh in 1:07:01.43.

“Other than the swim, it was fun,” White said.

“The swim sucks but I got through it. The bike was tough because of the traffic, all the other riders and the wind.

“I came out of the bike third and made up most of my time on the bike, which didn’t come as a surprise considering my cycling ability. I came off the transition fifth and I was caught by one person on the run.”

It was a great day for White, with girlfriend Hines third in her Cambridge Beaches debut.

“It’s really nice to finish third and it was a beautiful place to do it,” Hines said.

“I just wanted to get out of the water before Conor, which I did and he passed me on the bike. There was no way I could keep up with him.

“It was scary starting the swim in the sea with so many people, but I’m glad we did it on the other side as it wasn’t too rough.

“The bike was too windy and it’s my weakest point. I know biking from Conor so that was pretty tough, but I was close behind to second.”

Ethan Smith and Colette Durkin continued their fine form for Bermuda at the Carifta Triathlon, Aquathlon and Mixed Relay Championships by winning the junior 11-15 races.

Smith was the overall winner in 36:50.63, ahead of Spencer Haldeman (37:14.61), while Durkin clocked 39:12.14 to secure third in the field.

“It feels great to get the victory,” Smith said.

“The swim was pretty cold but I enjoyed swimming on the new course. I was caught up on the bike by Jacob Leclerc and there were a lot of cars on the course so I couldn't really do much.

“I tried to hold as long as I could for the run and I’m happy I held off Spencer as he was close to catching me.”

After enjoying success for Bermuda in triathlon, the Warwick Academy student is trying to earn his spot in the island team for the 2027 Carifta Aquatics Championships.

“I’ve been trying to qualify for Carifta swimming, but that hasn’t happened yet,” the 14-year-old added.

“Hopefully, next weekend I believe there’s a swim meet and I'll qualify there.”

Durkin spoke with pride about fending off stiff competition from Naomi MacGuinness, Evelyn Fahy and Elena Bortoli.

“I think it was just a good day for me overall,” the 13-year-old said.

“I came out of the swim with Evelyn Fahy and Elena Bortoli. I passed Evelyn during the run to the transition and caught up to Elena on the bike.

“Naomi did pass me going to transition, but I was able to catch her on the run course. I’ve improved so much this year, I believe the more training I did and the more triathlons I did, made me more prepared for such moments.”

One of the race directors Ian Pilgrim was pleased to witness the growth of the event, with about 50 visitors from abroad taking part in the fourth edition.

“This year we had a lot more overseas visitors doing it and were staying at the hotel,” Pilgrim said.

“The weather co-operated to a large extent, even though we had to change the swim course from Long Bay to Mangrove Bay because of the prevailing winds.

“It resulted in a longer run-up from the swim, which some participants didn’t like, but it all worked well and the race was a great success.”

One overseas visitor, Gene Cormier, from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, relished the race on his maiden trip to Bermuda.

“We had such a great time,” the 79-year-old said.

“The race was laid out perfectly. I didn’t really like the wind as I didn’t expect that much wind here, but the sun broke out. The bike ride was nice, I didn’t realise that the island was so hilly as it was up and on down the run.

“But all in all, it was just a terrific thing. The people here and all the representatives of the race were really the best, they were out there cheering us on and we had plenty of water stops.

“We’re are definitely thinking of doing it again next year, but we need to be more prepared though.”

Cambridge Beaches owner Phil Hospod was also back among the participants after missing the race last year, while his wife was part of a team relay.

“It’s a really wonderful event,” Hospod said.

“Just to see the community create something so special. For people to come to celebrate a beautiful triathlon event in the West End of Bermuda is really fun to see.

“It’s a record year, created by the community for the community and I feel like every year there’s more people coming out, either participating, volunteering or celebrating their fellow competitors.”