Matthew Herring heralded a new dawn with an emphatic win in yesterday's Bank of Bermuda Triathlon.

The 16-year-old blitzed the field early on to establish an insurmountable lead and romp home for his first ever victory in the discipline.

After dropping an under-the-weather Jamie Pedro at the start of the bike phase, Herring never looked back and crossed the line comfortably ahead of defending champion and Commonwealth Games triathlete Kent Richardson. Hot on his heels was Andrew Davies in third, with 14-year-old Geoffrey Smith excelling for a fourth place finish.

The women's race belonged to the seemingly unbeatable Karen Smith, who notched her fourth victory in the event.

There was no way the national team athlete was going to be caught after distancing herself from her rivals during the bike ride.

Track and field expert Ashley Couper came in second after running down Cora Lee Starzomski and then Flora Duffy.The day, however, belonged to Herring.

The teenager has trained hard to hone his skills over recent months and was overcome with emotion when it all paid off.

"I don't know what to say, I'm speechless," said Herring. "I have never won a triathlon before.

"I've read the articles in the newspaper about me but I didn't think I could do this. When I came across that line I couldn't believe it."

After the half mile swim in Hamilton Harbour, Herring and Pedro emerged from the water with not even a sheet of paper's width between them.

"I decided to take it easy. Normally I go all out on the swim and die on the run," Herring said. "Today, I thought I would conserve my energy but I still wanted to come out first. I didn't want to be too close to Kent and Andrew.

"Jamie was very comfortable the whole time. I could feel his hands on my feet all the way."

But that was the nearest Pedro would get. Feeling nauseous he pulled out after four laps of the 12-mile ride, saying afterwards that he perhaps should not have participated at all.

So Herring was left to go it alone, but far from relaxing he put the hammer down.

"I was told by my swim coach Steve Castree to go out for the first four miles and try and blow them away," he said. "So that's what I did. But then I thought `I can keep going' and I came to eight miles and again thought `I can keep going' so I went to 12 and I felt great."

Herring has previously acknowledged that his run is the weakest element of his race, but he has been receiving coaching in this area from Steve Burgess and Tony Bean.

"I knew I was ready to have a strong run but I didn't know it would be that strong," he said. "I thought they would catch me up and it was going to be a sprint or they would just blow by me."

Herring said this was the high point of what had been a great year so far and with triathlon's World Championships still to come in Cancun, Mexico in November it might not be over yet.

"In May (Shell Gold Cup) I came third overall - a podium finish is what I have always dreamed of," he said. "Then I started focusing on the Worlds coming up. I was just going to use this as training - I didn't taper for it - but I feel great and now I am very excited for Cancun and I can't wait for it to come."

Second placed Richardson said he had given it his all.

"I was trying to cut my losses in the swim," he said. "I made a pretty good time. But everyone is hungry and in tremendous shape.

"After Commonwealth I backed off a little bit and tried to work on technique a little more and dial in things.

"I have been focusing a little bit more on the bike with going to the Caribbean Championships in Curacao. But all in all I am still pleased."

Richardson said it took some time for him to focus 100 percent mentally on the job in hand.

"Kevin Tucker was out there telling me I was getting a little bit too comfortable," he said. "It's short and I preach that all the time - it's a sprint and you have to put the hammer down right from the get-go and it took me a little while to really dial in."

Richardson said he had held out hope of reeling in Herring, though.

"I saw Matthew and I said `Man, I can get him, I can get him' but every time I made the turn, although I was making time on him, it wasn't enough," he said. "I guess he knew on the last lap that he had it. I thought if I surge and blow it out, maybe . . . I can say all that in hindsight."

Davies, meanwhile, was more than happy with his performance.

"It was an excellent swim for me," he said. "I swam with the people I wanted to, I was maybe fourth or fifth.

"The bike was strong. Last year year Kent caught me on the first lap, this year he didn't catch me until the third so I was feeling good.

"I came off the bike really confident because my run has really been turned on this year. The first lap I was running really well, but the second lap, I couldn't hold it, and then by the third lap I really had my groove on."

With Herring off and away, Davies harboured hopes of claiming second.

"The only shot I thought I might have was Kent. After the second lap and I saw how well Matthew was running I figured the race was his," he said.

Davies said it had been a thoroughly enjoyable race, both for spectators and athletes.

"Matthew gave us a butt-kicking, but no-one really ran away with it," he said. "At least it kept it interesting."

Youngster Geoffrey Smith gave warning of his talents, finishing within sight of the top three.

"Fourth was my goal," said Smith, fifth last year. "I didn't think I would get a 1:05 but I was hoping to get fourth."

On the bike I think I could have pushed myself a little harder. I could have gone a little faster but every time I did cramped up."

Smith said he hoped to improve once again next time around.

"If my swimming and running are better maybe I can get up there," he said.