the Bermuda Junior Triathlon Championships at Clearwater Beach on Saturday.

The Americans, brought in to provide competition for the Island triathletes, did just that, winning the girls and boys 11-12 age group and finishing one-two in the girls 13-15 division.

But eight-year-old Flora Duffy couldn't be touched by Atlanta resident Allison Kessler. Duffy completed the 100-metre swim, five-kilometre bike and one kilometre run in 19 minutes and 17 seconds -- the fastest time among the ten other girls competing over that distance.

Chloe Kempe was tops among nine-year-old girls (21:46) while Ashley Kirkpatrick (21:14) was fastest among the 10-year-olds.

Among the boys, Geoffrey Smith, eight, and Adam Petty, nine, won their divisions by more three minutes over Matthew Jones and Simon Morrison, respectively. Matthew Herring, 10, produced the fastest time of the 25 boys competing at the shorter distance, 17:27.

Petty was clocked in 17:52, followed by Roy-Allan Burch (18:30), who was second to Herring.

Competitors aged 11 and 12 raced over a longer course: 200-metre swim, 10-kilometre bike and 1.8-kilometre run.

As expected, top-ranked Americans Nicole Tunnell and Andrew Lawrence were fastest. Tunnell, 12, finished in 31:16, slightly faster than the 11-year-old Lawrence's 31:23.

Chris Conway, who turned 12 only a day earlier, won his division in 31:49, while Robyn Dickinson took the 11-year-old girls title in 39:47.

Tunnell and Lawrence were not eligible for the Bermuda championships, relinquishing the titles to second-place finishers Emma Rego and Lawson Williams, respectively.

The 13-15 age group coped with the longest distance, a 750-metre swim, 20-kilometre bike and five-kilometre run.

Visitors Chrystal Tunnell and Kelsey Berman were one-two in the girls but third-placed Allison Petty took the Bermuda title in 1:22:43.

Nuri Latham built up a three-minute lead going into the run and held off Tyler Butterfield for the boys crown. His time was 1:06:50.

Kris Hedges was the only 16-year-old and had a time of 1:04:19, two minutes quicker than his time over the same course in the National Sprint Championships.