Lewis takes positives from a busy weekend
JOSH LEWIS had several ‘smaller wins’ to smile about last weekend.
He may not have made great ripples on the international stage with his early elimination at Super League Triathlon Jersey, but Guernsey’s top triathlete celebrated making it that bit further than his debut two years ago.
The next day, a hat-trick from triathletes in his coaching group – Entire – at Guernsey’s Granite Man boosted his spirits.
At Super League, the Sarnian was practically guaranteed a losing battle.
Only eight of 21 starters completed the attritional ‘Enduro’ – three sets of 300m swim, 4km bike and 1.6km run – where anyone who falls 90sec. behind the leader is eliminated.
And the race brims with world-class opposition – here, Great Britain’s Olympic silver-medallist Alex Yee outsprinted famous compatriot Jonathan Brownlee for victory.
Lewis was the second to go out. After an unfavourable starting position left him swimming an awkward line, he had to cover extra distance and wound up adrift.
In the resulting struggle, he nevertheless surpassed his ‘SLT’ debut in that he was allowed to start the second swim.
‘All-in-all, I did not come last out the water and I did not come last in the race, so it was a good experience in that respect,’ Lewis said.
‘It was really tough, but I got a little bit further than in 2019, so I am taking the smaller wins.’
Jersey rival Ollie Turner upstaged him this time, outlasting him by nearly nine minutes.
Having beaten Turner in the previous weekend’s sprint triathlon, Lewis believes that Super League’s technical format favours his rival.
‘Ollie is really good at the skills – transitions and manoeuvring through the water,’ he added.
‘He had a better position than me coming out the water and managed to get through transitions far faster.’
Fast-improving Chloe Truffitt also stood out from a Guernsey perspective, placing third in the non-elite women’s race.
Still confident in his raw fitness, Lewis hopes to race in Guernsey’s Butterfield Half Marathon this coming weekend before stepping up to the Challenge Salou – a professional half-Ironman in Spain – on Sunday week.
On domestic soil, Entire claimed a Granite Man senior double – via Chris Norman and Megan Chapple – plus a sprint win from Thierry Le Cheminant. Dave Mosley placed second over the full distance.
Lewis, who coaches Entire alongside Welshman Iestyn Harrett, was rather impressed.
‘Chris had the race of his life and really showed what he was capable of, and Megan did the same,’ he said.
‘I think everyone massively improved on previous performances. Chris went 50 minutes quicker than 2019.
‘You can cobble together five or 10 minutes with course differences, but 50 minutes is 50 minutes – that’s enormous.’
Notably, Chapple’s run split was quicker than any other racer, male or female, except for the surprise cameo of sub 2-30 marathoner Tiaan Erwee.
