Bermuda triathlete Alex Jones continued his preparations for this summer's Small Island Games in Guernsey with a solid performance in the prestigious St. Anthony's Triathlon in St. Petersburg, Florida on Sunday.

Competing in a huge field which numbered 2,000, Jones placed third in the men's 20-24 age group and was 90th overall despite cramping on the 10 kilometre run.

Jones finished in two hours, 13 minutes and five seconds, beaten in his age group only by Colorado's Geoffrey Nenninger (2:04.45) and Florida's Chris Murphy (2:10.18).

Although water conditions for the 1500 metre swim were excellent, the technical bike course was crowded and Jones said he was hampered by the backmarkers from the earlier start of a different age group. However, he still posted an excellent bike time of one hour, 53 seconds for the 40 kilometre ride.

The professional race was part of the International Triathlon Union's World Cup circuit and attracted a strong field.

The men's race was won by Tim Don of Great Britain and the women's race by Laura Reback of the USA.

Bermuda's only professional triathlete, Tyler Butterfield, who is training in Florida with other pros on the circuits, chose to sit out the race but was on hand as a spectator.