Tyler Smith and Erica Hawley have qualified for the 16-19 Elite Triathlon World Championships in Cozumel, Mexico, in September.

The island’s top two junior triathletes delivered impressive performances at the CAMTRI Pan American Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, yesterday.

Smith, 17, finished thirteenth in a tight race in a time of 57min 32sec, which was exactly a minute behind race winner Charles Paquet, of Canada, and just 13 seconds from a top-ten finish.

“It was a good race for me,” Smith said. “My swim was decent, however I came out of the water in between the two main packs, just missing the breakaway of 16 riders.

“After being caught by the chase pack, a large group of us worked well together to bridge up to the leading group by the end of the third of four laps.

“With 50-plus riders making up the front pack it became increasingly dangerous, and I narrowly avoided a large crash going into the second transition.

“I was held up by the bikes and bodies on the road, so I had to do some work to get back into contention for a top-15 worlds spot on the run.”

Hawley finished a respectable nineteenth in her race in 1:06:06 to claim the final World Championships spot.

The race was won by Taylor Knibb, of the United States, in 1:00:10. Knibb finished eleventh at her first World Triathlon Series race in Stockholm last weekend behind winner Flora Duffy.

Hawley’s preparations were less than ideal having spent the past month studying for her A-level exams at Millfield school.

The 18-year-old will now head to Victoria, British Columbia, to train and compete for the remainder of the summer.