Never understated, Kent Richardson assessed the performances of himself, Karen Smith and Jamie Pedro at the Memphis triathlon as like "blowing the doors off'' everything they had done before.

Richardson and Smith made the trip to Tennessee at the weekend in the hope of making the qualification time for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

Pedro, meanwhile, was setting his sights on the World Championships later this year.

Not only did Richardson and Smith make the time but Pedro, a relative newcomer to the pursuit, was just two minutes outside the Manchester mark. All three set personal bests during the 40 kilometre bike ride, ten kilometre run and 1.5 kilometre swim event, Richardson coming in at 2:04.02, Smith at 2:13.18 and Pedro at 2:09.01. The Games' mark for men is 2:07.00 and for women 2:18.00.

"I was just looking to get a good swim, a good bike and come off there with a decent run," said 43 year-old Richardson . "But I had a rocking bike, a good swim and ran strong off the bike."

The time was still unofficial at the time of writing, but Richardson is confident he has qualified and is even more sure he can go faster still.

"Two years ago I was 41 and I did 2:04.58, almost 2:05, so I was happy to come in here and hit 2:04.02," he said.

"I am very happy, it was my best time so far, easily, and I can go quicker, definitely. This year I started off with 2:10, then 2:07, then 2:04."

Richardson said it was just a question of honing his skills now.

"Now the plan is to just dial in on the swimming and not to take any of the dynamics away from the bike," he said. "Then I want to concentrate on my run more. It is going to be draught legal so who knows who you are going to get a chance to join up with. That's the scary part. You are either left on your own with three or four people or you are with the pack."

Smith's time was almost five minutes better than her previous best.

"Everything came together today," she said. "They were great conditions. It was cool, we weren't facing the heat and humidity that we normally are - just a perfect day, an awesome day for triathlon."

Smith said she had been confident of putting in a good time.

"I was hoping to go somewhere between 2:12 and 2:15 and basically split it down the middle so I was quite pleased with that," she said.

"I knew I could. I had a great race down in Tampa (Florida) but with the heat and humidity I knew the timing was off. But then everybody's was too so I knew I could pull something out today."

It wasn't all smooth running for Smith though.

Two weeks ago she fell while competing on the bike in Bermuda and she had a minor reaction to it while out on the course.

"It was starting to open up again today, not to get too graphic," she said. "I had to take a few days off training to let the bruises settle down but maybe that was a good thing, to have that rest."

Smith said she was looking forward to being in Manchester, but was realistic enough to know there was still lots of preparation ahead of her.

"I'm pretty excited but I know there is still tons of work to be done," she said. "I think I need to work on that swim. It is a different type of race at the Commonwealth Games, being draught legal. So if you are down on the swim you are not going to get into a pack to ride with people."

Pedro was understandably delighted at his performance.

"I am very happy. I haven't been doing triathlon for too long," he said. "My best time before this was 2:17 back home, but I have been improving slowly over the little time I have been doing it."

Pedro, second in the recent Shell Gold Cup Triathlon behind favourite Tyler Butterfield, said he believed his time could have been even better had it not been for an incident in the water.

"My swim would have been a little better but I had a bit of trouble with another swimmer," he said. "Someone pulled my goggles off and I had to sort stuff out and get going again."

Pedro, too, was quick to say he was not the finished article yet.

"The only thing hurting me right now is my run," he said. "I did a 42. If I could have dropped two minutes I would have qualified for Commonwealth as well, those two minutes were basically my run time."

Pedro said he still had an opportunity to book his ticket.

"I am debating now whether to go for another race," he said. "I believe Jon Herring is going to Victoria and I think some others might be going so I am giving it some serious thought after doing so well today.

"The key would be if I could get my run time down."