The trio of swimmer Ronald Cowen, cyclist Nuri Latham and runner Jamal Hart clinched victory in yesterday's Tri Gatorade team triathlon at Clearwater Beach.

Predictably the contest for top spot was between Cowen, Latham and Hart and Jonathan Herring, Greg Hopkins and Tyler Butterfield.

But after teenagers Cowen and Latham, just 17 and 16 respectively, laid the foundation, Hart had the easier task of maintaining a healthy lead over Butterfield in the run to seal victory by one minute and 21 seconds.

The winning team finished in two hours and 17 seconds with Herring, Hopkins and Butterfield placing second in 2:01.38. Third were Mike Cash, Tim Palmer and Andrew Doble in 2:04.55.

Butterfield's run over the 10K course was actually quicker than Hart's (36:15 to 36:36), but the 21 seconds difference was not enough to cut into a comfortable lead that Latham had given his team when he opened 1:44 over Hopkins in the 40K cycle.

"I just kept looking for him and once I ditched him I was just hoping I could hold that lead,'' said Latham afterwards. "I just hoped he didn't cut that time down like he did in the beginning. Jamal is a very good runner and I had confidence in him.'' The race got off to an exciting start when Cowen and then Herring came out of the water from the 1500 metre swim just eight seconds apart. Third placed Mike Cash was 65 seconds back which left Palmer and then Doble with plenty of work to do.

Cowen admitted those swimmers using wetsuits had an advantage. "Wetsuits make a huge difference. It was a good swim, Jonathan made me work.'' Hopkins made it interesting after two completed laps as he was then neck and neck with Latham. But on the third lap Latham's youthful exuberance came to the fore as he started to put some distance between himself and Hopkins.

By the fourth lap he was leading by 48 seconds and he never relented as the lead was increased to 1:12 at the end of the fifth lap.

That only served to give Hart more confidence and he started off with an extra spring in his step knowing a steady run would assure victory.

"Ronald and Nuri did a good bit to get the lead,'' acknowledged Hart, who used the race to kick off his Marathon Derby preparation.

"The only time I saw Tyler was at the turnarounds and on the second turnaround I did notice that he had bridged the gap on me so I think he ran a faster time than I did. But at the end of the day it was just a matter of me keeping the lead.'' Melanie Claude, the top female finisher in Saturday's individual triathlon, was also part of yesterday's female winning team which included Claire Mancell and Alison Cameron.

The favourites finished an impressive sixth overall in 2:11.41 and were almost 28 minutes ahead of the second female team of Helen Hall, Laurie Orchard and Clare de Ste Croix who were 17th out of 28 finishing teams.

"Yesterday, on the female side there wasn't too much (competition) so I was competing more against the males,'' said Claude of Saturday's victory when she finished 11th overall out of 56 finishers.

Her time of 1:08.32 was almost eight minutes behind overall winner Scott Willett of the New York Triathlon Club.

"There is a bit of a headwind which is deceiving when you're standing here,'' said Claude, the Island's top female cyclist.

"I thought the swim was pretty calm and my bike was pretty strong as I expected, and my run was steady as well. My legs were tired today but because I was working with a team I didn't want to disappoint them.

"It's good for me to have back-to-back races because I'm gearing up for the Grand Prix which is three days of cycling.'' Willett finished Saturday's race in 1:00.40, just 55 seconds ahead of Tyler Butterfield while Kevin Tucker was four minutes and seven seconds behind the winner in third place.

Willett was given permission to compete as an individual yesterday as a training exercise, but he dropped out at the end of the bike ride. Up until that point he was in the top four.

"This is the first year I've done the whole race,'' said Willett who has been bringing a team here to compete for the last four years.

"Today was for training. I don't have enough running in me at the moment to do two days' racing back to back.

"I also ran 27 miles in Boston on Monday so the legs are a little gone today.'' TAKING THE PLUNGE -- Swimmers hit the water at the start of yesterday's team triathlon at Clearwater Beach.

Photos by Tony Cordeiro WINNER -- American Scott Willett won Saturday's individual triathlon at Clearwater Beach and then competed against the teams yesterday, finishing the swim and cycle in fourth place before pulling out.