Erica Hawley made an impressive start to the season at the CamTri Sprint Triathlon American Cup and Central American and Caribbean Championship in Bridgetown, Barbados, yesterday.

Showing no effects from a recent leg injury, the triathlete finished runner-up in the CAC region behind Ciara Vega, of Cuba, and eighth in the overall elite women’s field in 1hr 5min 55sec.

“I had a good day considering it was the first race of the season but there were also a couple of mistakes which may have cost me a couple of positions,” Hawley said. “Transitions are something I need to work on and initial speed in the first two kilometres on the bike. However, I have been feeling strong on the bike and I’m happy with my effort and power in today’s race.

“I was unsure about how the run would be, as I have been battling injury for most of the winter season and some of last month. I had an ilio-tibia band issue since October and thought it was OK in early December, but it became a problem again in early January and I had ten days off running again.

“I’ve had awesome physio and strength support in Tucson, so I think it’s all good now.

“Going into the race I had some solid track workouts but my volume is still quite low, so I know that in another five weeks I will be feeling good.”

Hawley was particularly pleased about her performance in the swim.

“This was a great start to the race for me and I was glad to have a good swim after some mishaps during the summer,” she said.

“Unfortunately when mounting my bike I fell, so this group got away from me right at the start. I rode with the Cuban girl [Vega], but she stayed on my wheel for the 20 kilometres and luckily the gaps weren’t really changing. The group ahead were not making much time on me, so I knew that I was biking well, I’m just upset that I fell during T1.

“I came off the bike in sixth position with the Cuban girl and had a good run, although I could not break away from her and she out-sprinted me at the end. All in all, a very good first race and I’m glad I dusted off the cobwebs.”

Sophie Chase, of the United States, pipped Canadian Dominika Jamnicky by a second to claim the elite women’s title in 1:04:07, while John Rasmussen, of Canada, claimed the elite men’s title comfortably in 57:50.

Hawley will represent Bermuda in the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, Australia, in April. She will join Flora Duffy, Tyler Butterfield and Tyler Smith in the mixed relay triathlon.