She was punched on the nose, pulled under water and kicked in the face but Bermuda?s Flora Duffy still managed to finish an impressive 24th place in her first Triathlon World Cup outing yesterday.

Duffy, who finished eighth in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia earlier this year in a break-out performance, was competing in the Salford BG Triathlon in the north-west of England as part of her attempts to qualify for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

?I thought I was going to drown at one point,? said Duffy, who finished in two hours, eight minutes and 24 seconds, just under four minutes behind eventual winner Samantha Warriner, the Commonwealth silver medallist in Melbourne.

?These girls are very hardcore and if you accidentally bump someone, they end up pulling you under.

?It was pretty rough in there, I?d never seen anything like it, not even in the Commonwealth.

?It?s very competitive and there were a lot of us, so people were doing whatever they could to get an advantage. It was certainly an eye-opener, it was a real battle for the whole 1500 metres.?

With 60-odd girls in the field, Duffy came out of the water in 23 minutes 10 seconds, much slower that she would have wanted.

But she was very happy with her cycle, during which she helped lead a third pack to close the 30-second gap and catch the group in front.

Racing on the same Salford Quays course on which fellow Bermudian Tyler Butterfield competed at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, the teenager recorded the tenth fastest time in the second leg, completing the 40K course in 1:07.21.

The talented young athlete ? one of Bermuda?s brightest hopes for the future ? then ran a 36.50 10K to finish in 24th place overall.

?I am pretty happy with that finish in my first World Cup race,? said Duffy.

?I haven?t prepared the way I would have liked because of a problem with my knee. It was only two weeks ago that I ran four times a week again ? and even then it wasn?t full out.

?I am pleased with how I did considering it wasn?t my best day and I know I am going to be better prepared going into my next World Cup event.

?This was a leap into the unknown for me and it was unlike anything I had ever seen before.?

Duffy will compete next week in the London Triathlon in the 16-19 age group and will then be focusing on the Junior Worlds in Lausanne, Switzerland at the end of next month.

Duffy was watched yesterday by family and friends, including father Charlie and mother Maria who were both brought up in the north-west of England, not far from Salford.