ST CATHERINE’S hosted a triathlon spectacle on Saturday evening, as 80 athletes battled for supremacy in this year’s inter-insular.
This year’s event marked a significant return to action, held for the first time since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Guernsey must receive some plaudits for this resurgence, as their 20-strong squad was their highest-attending outfit since the 2015 Jersey Island Games.
Differing greatly to inter-insulars in other sports, Jersey Tri Club opened entries to all skill levels, aiming their approach more towards fostering an open and inclusive environment.
All levels were out in force, with a plethora of Island Games athletes ready to test their mettle ahead of this year’s event.
Conditions were perfect, with the evening sun and calm seas making way for a good and fair contest. The course was a sprint distance, consisting of a 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run.
Racing got off to an intense start in the swim, as Island Games athletes Ethan Woodhead and Peter Holmes, both in the M20-24 category, battled it out.
Guernsey’s Woodhead just edged ahead of the home team’s Holmes, with a mere five seconds separating the pair, clocking impressive times of 14 minutes 41 seconds and 14m 46s respectively.
Sarnian Freddie Furley, 15, showed his ability coming out of the water in third, just ten seconds behind Holmes. Fellow Jersey Island Games athletes Wayne and Dale Quenault had work to do, after surging out of the water in 11th and 12th place.
The pair impressed, however, clocking the same time of 29m 34s to present a powerful one-two in the bike, each securing the fastest split in the cycle.
Mark Syvret, who recently starred for Team GB in the European Triathlon Middle Distance Championships, shone on the bike to post the third-fastest cycle split time of the day, at 30.04.
Despite Jersey’s blistering pace on the bike, Sarnian Woodhead managed to maintain the lead going into the run, with Holmes chasing from second.
Everything was still to play for in the run, as athletes looked to give it their all in the final act.
Even though Woodhead’s eighth-fastest bike time saw his grasp of the lead loosened slightly, the athlete in green managed to put together an excellent 5km run, notching an excellent transition two and run time of 19m 14s to finish with the quickest run split, ranking overall first with a total time of 1 hour, 4 minutes and 58 seconds.
Island Games athlete Dirk “DC” Swart played to his strengths, excelling in the run to jump up the leaderboard. His split time of 19m 48s ranked as second fastest, and was enough to push him into second place, with an overall time of 1.06.15.
Fellow Team Jersey triathlete Holmes rounded out the podium, just 19 seconds behind Swart. Fourth and fifth place went to Wayne and Dale Quenault respectively, posting total times of 1.06.44 and 1.07.51 respectively.
Syvret placed tenth, narrowly beaten by fellow GB athlete Mike Norbury, who claimed seventh place overall. Guernsey’s young star Furley had a terrific outing to finish ninth.
Much was said about the friendly and positive relations between Jersey and Guernsey’s triathlon clubs, with the recent response to the tragedy surrounding Lily McGarry a shining example.
“In light of Lily’s [McGarry] tragic situation, Guernsey Tri Club responded instantly, saying they’d put out collection buckets at all their events to support the cause,” Corcoran said.
“That was just so touching, for them to do that on their own initiative. It was a lovely thing to do and really shows our great inter-island relationship.”
The visiting greens had a powerful one-two in the women’s category, as Team Guernsey athletes Lindsay Sword and Amy Critchlow were the first women to cross the line, clocking times of 1.13.56 and 1.14.20 respectively.
Katie Tanguy was Jersey’s first woman to complete the course, as well as the third women overall, before Island Games triathlete and flag-bearer Claire Forbes came in fourth.
All in all, it was an excellent race, with its “great buzz” further enthusing Jersey’s triathlon community to keep up the momentum in the second leg, which will take place in Guernsey on 24 August.
The Ana Leaf Foundation were instrumental in arranging this inter-island showdown, and the Jersey Tri Club said they were grateful for their continued support.
