sport makes its debut at the CAC Games in Venezuela next month.

Kent Richardson and Kevin Tucker will be travelling to South America along with team-mate Tab Froud to compete in the inaugural Olympic-distance event.

And last night Richardson pledged: "We're going to be dropping the hammer down there. We're not going there to conserve energy, it's going to be a war.'' And to prove his point, the pair have been putting in plenty of hours of preparation, in the pool, on their bikes or their wind trainers -- the latter a kind of stationary bike unit which provides greater resistance the harder you pedal.

"I've been doing speed work twice a week with Kevin early in the morning -- and most evenings I hit the pool or ride,'' said Richardson.

"I'm in the water at least four or five times a week because I like to single out my weakest event. And while my cycling is okay, it's not right where I would like it to be.

"However, another couple of weeks and I'll be ready to roll.'' When the pair are not training together, Tucker, who recently came 56th in his age group in the Half Iron Man in Panama City, Florida, has set himself an equally hard regime, cycling and swimming three or four times a week, two hours at a time.

The distance they will face in Venezuela -- 1500m swim, 40K bike ride and 10K run -- is one Richardson, a water-skiing instructor who represented Bermuda in that sport at the Pan American Games in Argentina t h ree years ago, is known to favour.

"I enjoy the longer distances,'' said the 39-year-old, who spent the winter training with top professional Alec Rukosuev in Alabama. "Obviously it's not as long as people like Andy Shelp are doing in the full-blown Iron Man competitions, but it's enough to make your body hurt.'' Richardson admitted that little information has been available on the conditions and level of competition he and his team-mates can expect to meet in Venezuela.

"We're still in the dark a bit. With it being the first one it's hard to know how well it is going to be organised. We don't really know whether there will be long transitions between the stages, such as when we come out of the water.'' Unknowns such as those could potentially affect times but Richardson, who recorded a personal best swim of 24:16 in his time of 2:10.35 at the Memphis Triathlon earlier this year, remains confident.

"I know I have it in me to get close to 2:05,'' he said. "And if I could break 2:00, I'd be over the moon.'' Tucker, 29, a former national cyclist who represented the Island in the 1991 Pan Am Games before switching to triathlon, has a personal best around 2:10, but also believes he can go faster.

He said: "Competition brings out the best in me. I love a challenge. I'm in good shape now and it feels good.

Four cyclists will be among the 41-strong Bermuda team at the CAC Games. The Bermuda Bicycle Association have gone for a mixture of youth and experience by selecting veteran Mike Lee and 18-year-old Kris Hedges along with MacInnis Looby and Jason Krupp.

Hedges and Looby will take part in the 48.8K time trial scheduled for August 9, with all four coming together for the 180k road race a week later.

TWO FOR THE SHOW -- Kevin Tucker (left) and Kent Richardson will be joined by Tab Froud as Bermuda sends a triathlon team to the CAC Games in Venezuela next month.