The battle for top honours among the men is wide open in this year?s Aon National Sprint Triathlon Championships.

Some notable absentees in the male field should make for an absorbing race at Clearwater Beach on Sunday morning.

Last year?s men?s champion Jamie Brown is sidelined with injury while Kris Hedges, winner of last month?s Pirates Port Triathlon, will be off the Island. That leaves the door open for the Naude twins, Evan or Riaan, to take the title in what should be a close race. However, both can be expected to be closely challenged by Norbert Meyer.

All three have excelled with strong performances this year but they will likely be playing catch-up after the swim to blossoming teenage triathletes like Coyatito Smith and Matthew Godfrey.

Smith, 17, has been training hard to make the qualifying time for the World Youth Championships in Japan later this year. His strong run carried him past 16-year-old Godfrey in the Pirates Port race, where they finished sixth and seventh respectively.

By contrast, Deanna Thomson, who was victorious among the women in 2004, is well placed to retain her crown, especially without the threats of Karen Smith and Flora Duffy on the starting line.

Smith is doubtful for the event after her troubles in the Bermuda Marathon Derby while Duffy is studying in the UK. The latter turned in a superb one hour, five minutes performance at the recent junior, draft legal race in Windsor. Only Joanna Shillington is likely to have a realistic chance of challenging Thomson.

The race starts at 9.45 a.m. with a 750 metre swim around a triangular course followed by a 20 kilometre bike and a five kilometre run. Temperature and humidity are likely to become factors as the morning progresses and competition is also expected to be intense for age-group honours, with trophies up for grabs in 16-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49 and 50 and over categories.

Bermuda?s junior triathletes will also get the opportunity to display their talents, racing over various age-related distances.

Several 13-15-year-olds will be competing over the 750 metre swim, 20K bike and 5K run for the Aon junior trophy. The winner is most likely to be Thomas Godfrey, Marc Smith or Dorian Armstrong who recently competed in the Pirates Port race over a slightly shorter distance. Godfrey overhauled Smith on the last lap of the run to take first place.

Those aged seven to ten will race over a 100 metre swim, 5K bike and 1K run. In the boys? event, Nathan Amaral will be looking to hold off Mark Godfrey with challenges from Ryan Pinches, Lorenzo Sequeros and Justin Ferreira.

In the girls? event, favourite Jazmine Outerbridge?s closest challengers will likely be Annabella Doyle, Molly Pilgrim, Gabriella Arnold and Elizabeth Jordan.

Outerbridge, no doubt, will be paying close attention to pre-race instructions after a wrong turn during the Pirates Port race ended her chances.

Juniors aged 11 to 14 race over twice the distance (200m swim, 10K bike, 2K run).

Eleven year-old David Lunn jr has comfortably moved up to this distance this season and will be difficult to beat, especially if older boys choose to compete in the sprint distance race instead. If Lunn is to be caught, the contenders will most likely be Alex Godfrey, Reid Henderson and Vaughn Barrett.

Competition will be fierce in the girls? race with Rebecca Heyliger the favourite and Carys Pinches, Ashley Fox, Hayley Evans, Chelsea Lines and Caitlyn Miller all with a realistic chance of a podium finish.

The swim portion of all junior races takes place in shallow water. Separate awards will be made for competitors riding mountain bikes. Trophies are awarded in the 7-8, 9-10, 11-12 and 13-14 age groups.

The popular team event will take place simultaneously, with several of the individual competitors doing double duty ? swimming for a team as well. Last year more than 30 teams competed in the Open, Company or Female categories.

The race is hard to predict, with teams changing from year to year, but accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers will be looking to reclaim the Company title which they lost to IAS Park last year when their runner made a wrong turn.

Event sponsors, Aon Group, have put up a special trophy to be awarded to the top finishing team from the insurance industry.

A short ?Try-a-Tri? race will be held for individuals aged 16 and over who want to test their triathlon ability for the first time. This race is competed over a 150 metre swim, 5K bike and 1K run course.

Entry forms for all races are available from Sportseller or Winners Edge, or may be downloaded, along with course maps and other race information, from www.bta.bm. The deadline is 5.30 p.m. today.

Further information is available from the race directors Ian Fox (295-7237 or ian.foxgsk.com) and Nigel Godfrey (296-8453 or ngodfreyibl.bm).