National Olympic Distance Triathlon Championships.

Sponsors Sports-R-Us have stumped up more than $1,000 in bonuses and prize money for the triathlon season finale, which will take place at Clearwater Beach.

Juniors will be competing for gift certificates ranging in value from $20 to $200.

Co-race director David McManus doubted that anyone would break two hours over the 1500-metre swim/40K bike/10K run course, but he believed that offering the bonus was good for the sport.

"Although we don't know all who are going to be entering, with Tyler Butterfield concentrating on cycling for the time being, I think the money's quite safe. Indeed it's a challenging enough target for our best teams!'' said McManus.

"It's been some time since we've had a locally based triathlete regularly breaking this time (two hours).

"Many believe that only Tony Ryan and Greg Hopkins, who had a personal best 1:55 in the Italian Championships, have ever achieved this.

"Whether or not the financial incentive will have an impact I wouldn't like to say, but I think everyone would agree that having a greater focus on the standard is healthy for the sport here.'' Sports-R-Us manager Daren Mayeaux said: "At Sports-R-Us we like to think that what we're about is helping our customers be the best that they can be in their chosen sport.

"I'm aware that contrary to what many people might expect, performance standards in a number of sports in Bermuda are not rising and may in fact be falling behind where they where some years back.

"We want to encourage local participants to set their goals on achieving times that would make them real contenders off the Island and not merely focus on beating their local competitors.'' Mayeaux recognised that a 1:59:59 time or better is no push-over (the men's 20-29 age group qualifying time for the 2000 World Championships was 2:12:00), particularly bearing in mind Bermuda's heat, humidity and hills.

"This year's Olympic champion came in below 1:50:00, so it's obvious that getting under two hours is the real entry level for the world stage,'' added Mayeaux.

The championships get underway at 8.00 a.m. with both an individual and team event.

Kent Richardson, a Masters competitor and top local athlete at the recent Bank of Bermuda triathlon is expected to challenge for the overall title.

Karen Smith, winner of every duathlon and triathlon in the year 2000, should come out on top on the women's side and may compete for the overall title.

Both Richardson and Smith have been awarded Bermuda's Exceptional Athlete status. This will provide them with $500 annually towards overseas competitions (race entry fees, travel fees, etc).

Other expected male divisional winners include Andrew Davis (20-29), Aaron Smith (30-39), Andrew Doble (40-49) and Jim Butterfield (50-59). Female competitors who should take honours include Laurie Orchard (20-29), Lea Butterfield (30-39), Kim Mason (40-49) and Linda Dillon (50-plus).

The Junior Triathlon Championships for seven to 15-year-olds of all abilities also begins on Sunday at 8.00 a.m. with a 300 metre swim, 15K cycle and 3K run format. A junior team event with a swimmer, cyclist and runner within the same age group will also compete at the same time.

Among a bunch of promising girls are Ashley Robinson Roberts, Ashley Kirkpatrick and Melissa DeSilva. The favourites in the boys race include Adam Petty, Tyler Abbott, Roy Allen Burch and Matthew Herring.

Starting at 9.00 a.m. is an adult beginner race (called the Try-a-Tri Triathlon) over a relatively modest distance of 200-metre swim, 10K bike and 2K run. The winning time is expected to be around 34 minutes. Racing or road bicycles are not required; several competitors are expected to use mountain bikes.

Kent Richardson: key contender for overall victory.