Cold waters provide a shock to the system in fun event

ALL eight competitors completed the Guernsey Triathlon Club's only aquathon of the year in under 30 minutes. The annual fun event, based at La Vallette Bathing Pools, took place in relatively cold summer weather and overcast skies, with the entrants contesting a 400m swim and two-mile run.

Wetsuits were optional and although around half the competitors wore them to conserve heat, the others chose to brave the water without neoprene - a choice with which some were unfamiliar.

'I chose not to wear a wetsuit today, mainly to get used to swimming without one as I probably won't be wearing one at the World Championships in a couple of weeks time - but it was very, very cold,' said Gail Merrien, who finished second overall.

The swim was in the women's pool at La Vallette, with some finding a straight line difficult to obtain without the help of lane ropes.

Although there were some near crashes, all swimmers completed the eight lengths in good time. Unsurprisingly, Sam Herridge recorded the fastest split.

The run took place along the flat footpath from the pools to the lighthouse and back and it was a sprint compared with what many of the athletes were used to.

'A two-mile run at the end of the race feels a lot, lot shorter than the marathon at the end of an Ironman,' said Hubert Nicolle, first male and third overall, who has just returned from competing in the Austrian Ironman event.

With the field fairly spread out after the swim, positions stayed more or less the same with Herridge recording the fastest run time to come in first overall in 18min. 46sec.

However, both Geoff King and Lyn Mahy made up placings on the run, drawing on their strength in the discipline.

With the majority of the GTC summer races now over, competitors are looking forward to the remainder of the cycling time trials as well as the main race of the season - the Olympic-distance event taking place on Sunday 10 September. That is also scheduled to include the inter-insular.