Jersey’s men were far and away the better, finishing a total of 40 minutes ahead of their Guernsey rivals on the hilly course at L’Eree which had begun with a 1500m swim, in difficult and confused seas which caused some of the competitors in the European Emergency Services triathlon, being run just ahead of the inter-insular, to withdraw after only 100m in the water.
Jersey team captain Andy Kemp said: ‘I was confident we could beat Guernsey, and we did that decisively.
James was really gutsy, finishing so far ahead despite injuries.’ Jersey’s swim specialist Scott Pitcher was first to exit the water, closely followed by James Amy and Chris Westcott with Guernsey’s men already some way behind.
Tim Rogers and Michael Lucas, racing in the veteran category, were also well ahead by this stage.
In the ladies’ category Jersey’s Louise Meyer, Helen Mackenzie and Jenny O’Brien found themselves 15 minutes behind the former Guernsey swimmer Samantha Herridge.
Force 4/5 winds brought waves crashing over the sea wall and, combined with the two nasty hill sections, made for a hard bike leg.
Amy pulled away from his Jersey team-mates during this leg and won overall with Westcott and Pitcher finishing strongly to steal the one, two, three and take a 30-minute lead.
Rogers, although riding an extra couple of miles, won the veterans’ race, with Lucas close behind after strong bike and steady run sections.
Team Jersey now had a 40-minute lead and it was all down to the ladies.
O’Brien was the first Jersey girl to appear, to the cheers of her team-mates and supporters, having pulled ahead of Meyer and Mackenzie during the bike leg.
Then Meyer had to retire with sickness – possibly due to swallowing an excess of sea-water – and Mackenzie push on gallantly to the finish.
Said Kemp: ‘The ladies had a really tough time – all three are virtually novices still but they really worked hard.
It was just a shame Louise was ill.’ He said that it had not been a pleasant day for the event.
‘The sea was very lumpy and green – enough to put anyone off the swim if they weren’t used to the sea.
But the team applied themselves well, and I think most of us are now looking forward to a few weeks off before we start winter training.’ The Jersey Tri Club are supported by Ogiers.
