Some of Bermuda?s top triathletes will fly to Hawaii this week to compete in the World Age Group Triathlon Championships.

The team comprises the Naude twins, Riaan and Evan, Kris Hedges, Karen Smith, Norbert Meyer, Kent Richardson, Joanna Shillington, Steven Petty and Adam Smith, a former junior champion who has just graduated from college in California.

The Olympic-distance event will take place in Honolulu on Sunday and will comprise a 1.5-kilometre swim in the Pacific Ocean, a 40-kilometre bike ride along the Kalanianole Highway and finally a 10-kilometre run, two loops around Kapiolani Park.

Petty is a veteran of the World Age Group Championships. He first competed in the event in 1989 and this will be his 12th time.

?It?s one of the stronger teams we have taken in the past four or five years,? Petty said. ?It has a fair bit of depth.

?It?s great to have the twins with us and their swims have improved immensely. They and Kent and Karen will all be looking to qualify for the Commonwealth Games.

?It?s a great opportunity for all of us to pit ourselves against the best age groupers from all over the world.?

The Commonwealth Games qualifying times are two hours, two minutes and 27 seconds for men and 2:15:20 for women.

Karen Smith is one of the Island?s best bets for qualification, as well as for success in the event.

?I?m so excited and I feel as prepared as I could possibly be right now,? Smith said. ?I can?t do anything more and I?m ready to roll.

?My goals are to make the Commonwealth Games qualifying time and to finish in the top ten. The last time I did this event, I placed 15th.?

Smith gave herself a fillip by winning the women?s title in Bank of Bermuda Team Triathlon for the first time last weekend, along with team-mates Rebecca Heyliger and cyclist Julia Hawley. Smith ran the three miles of the short-course triathlon competition in 18:29.

Smith scuppered her plans to compete in the Elan Round the Sound race in Harrington Sound later on Sunday, as she was still recovering from the effects of a cold.

?Basically the hard work?s done now,? she said. ?Over the last three or four months, I?ve been training intensely for six days a week.

?Winning the team triathlon was a really nice way to finish it. The last week is basically a rest week.?

Former pro cyclist Hedges will be looking to improve on his 17th place at the 2003 championships in the 20-24 age group in New Zealand.

?This will be my fourth time in this event,? Hedges said. ?I competed in 1995 and ?96 as a junior. After that I concentrated more on cycling, but I did it again a couple of years ago in New Zealand, when I went down to stay with Tyler Butterfield.

?With the twins going as well, there will be a group of us in our age group and that will be nice.

?For me, it will be different this time going as a part-time athlete. The preparation?s just not the same.?

The Naude twins have both competed in world duathlon championships for their native South Africa. They added the swimming segment to their repertoire some 18 months ago to become triathletes.

And they proved their local pedigree by finishing one and two (Evan came first) in the Bank of Bermuda Individual Triathlon event two weeks ago.

Evan said: ?I can?t wait, I?m so excited. This will be our first world triathlon championships and it?ll be a good learning experience.

?It will be great to represent Bermuda and I?ll try to do well. Though we have to be realistic and view it as an experience.?

His brother Riaan was also champing at the bit in anticipation of the huge challenge awaiting in Honolulu.

?It?s difficult to set a target, as we have never done this before,? Riaan said. ?To place in the top 20 to 25 would be really great.

?What we know is that both of us will probably have to play catch-up on the bike and the run, because our swimming is our weakest discipline.?

For Richardson, the Hawaii trip will the first of a two-stage mini world tour.

?The 40-49 age group is extremely competitive, but I?m looking to do something decent and to finish in the top 20 would be great,? Richardson said.

?I have not fared well at this event in the past ? the best I?ve placed is 38th ? but I know I can do better. I?ve had some great results at the Olympic distance.

?I clocked 2:11 in St. Anthony?s and then in Memphis, I managed 2:06 ? just a minute outside the Commonwealth Games qualifying time.?

There will be little rest for 46-year-old Richardson after Hawaii. After the event, he will fly to Aruba to compete in the Caribbean Cycling Championships the following weekend, riding a 45-kilometre time trial on the Saturday followed by a 75-mile road race on the Sunday.