Karen Smith was the dominant force in her age group at Ironman 70.3 in Puerto Rico when winning by nearly 30 minutes over her nearest rival.

The Bermudian was in a class of her own in the female 55-59 division finishing in a time of 5hr 10min 48sec with her closest competitor, American Jeniffer Betancourt, finishing in 5:40:09.

Smith exited the water of the 1.2-mile swim in 32min 47sec, clocked 2:41:41 on the 56-mile bike course and completed the 13.1-mile run in 1:48:37 and her blistering time was good enough for her finish seventh among the 141 female entrants and in 85th of 702 total competitors.

“I was really pleased with my performance,” said Smith, whose son Tyler finished sixth at the Americas Triathlon Cup La Paz, in Mexico, over the weekend.

“It was really high humidity and really challenging conditions, but thankfully I managed to have a really good race.

“I had a really strong swim and bike and knowing I had a healthy lead it meant I didn’t have to push too hard on the run and could manage a steady pace to the finish line.

“The most pleasing thing is that I wasn’t sure what level I would be at this stage of the season. I’ve done this event twice before and so knew what to expect in terms of the heat and humidity, but it was great to be able to have a controlled race all round.

“With Tyler also doing so well it was a great weekend overall. I was super happy for him and that gave me a little bit more motivation and inspiration going into my race.”

As well as earning an impressive victory on the day, the result also earned Smith automatic qualification to the 70.3 World Championships in New Zealand in December.

However, Smith has decided against taking the spot, instead opting to focus on the Ironman Canada Penticton event, in which victory would hand Smith entry to the Ironman World Championships in the spiritual home of the sport, Kona, Hawaii, next year.

“I actually qualified for the 70.3 World Championships, but I didn’t take the spot as logistically it didn’t really work going all the way to New Zealand around Christmas time,” added Smith, who has enjoyed major past success on the full world championship stage, including being crowned champion after winning the 45-49 age division in 2014, as well as finishing fourth in her age category (50-54) in 2019, seventh in the same division in 2018, third (40-44) in 2010, eighth in 2009, and sixth in 2007 (35-39).

“Instead I’m looking towards my next big race being the Ironman event in Canada in August.

“What this race did was show me what I need to work on in the coming months and the level I need to be at for the summer.

“To qualify for the World Championships in Kona I have to win my age group again. It’s not just a case of going there and ticking a box, I have to perform to a high level and put in a solid performance.

“However, I’m confident of getting back there. The hard work I put in during the winter period is coming out now and so hopefully I can get even stronger over the next five months. Now is the building period.”

Smith was not the only Bermudian to impress in Puerto Rico as compatriot Panzy Olander enjoyed an encouraging debut competing in the 70.3 distance, claiming a sixth-placed finish in the female 30-34 age division.

Olander exited the water in 38:48, clocked 2:54:59 on the bike course and completed the 13.1-mile run in 2:10:55 for combined time of 5:56:37, slightly more than 35 minutes adrift of Xasha Betancourt’s winning time of 5:20:03.

Her efforts were good enough for her to finish 36th female and 253rd overall.

“I was really pleased for Panzy,” said Smith. “This was her first 70.3 Ironman event and she had a really fantastic race, which is great to see.”