Erica Hawley finished fourth in the Under-23 women’s race at the Brasilia Camtri Triathlon American Championships at the weekend.

Hawley, who was also ninth in the elite division, finished her first Olympic-distance competition in a time of 2hr 06min 30sec, with splits of 21:27, 1:05:03 and 39:16.

“I had a really good day at this distance and I am very pleased with my result,” she said.

The 19-year-old added: “I came out of the water in the main group of about 12 women.

“The swim seemed a bit long, for sure. The bike was fast but I rode very controlled in the pack. The run was quite hard as it was four laps with a low gradient hill on each lap.

“My first 5km was good but the second hurt a lot, as it did for everyone. I did still run a decent 10k, so I was pleased overall.

“I achieved my objective of gaining more ITU points and Olympic qualification points. It’s my first year in the under-23s, so I am very pleased with fourth overall.”