Guernsey Triathlon Good To Go This Weekend
Guernsey Triathlon Club has been green light with its super sprint event at Grandes Rocques this coming Sunday (June 7) and will become the first triathlon to go ahead since Covid-19 brought a complete halt to the triathlon season.
The race will follow Guernsey’s specific social distancing rules which allows just 30 people to gather in one place at a time. There will be two separate races of 30 athletes which will set off 5 athletes at a time with one-minute intervals in between. Spaces between bikes in the transition area will be also be enhanced.
On May 27 it was reported that there were no known active cases of Covid-19 in Guernsey hence why the easing of restrictions on the Island has been so swift.
In an interview with ITV News reporter Tony Curr the club president Mark Naftel said that “I think the whole club is super excited – we can’t wait to get back to actual physical racing”
“All the stuff we’ve done over the last few months, the virtual racing, meeting up on video calls, has been really good, but you cannot beat racing out here against the elements and against each other”.
“We’ll obviously keep an eye on the public health advice but hopefully we will have our second race in a few weeks time down at Vazon, and then hopefully through July and August we’ll be able to get back to our proper programme”
The distance of the race is a 400m swim, 10km bike and 3km run and the first wave will feature some of the top triathletes from Guernsey who are all hopeful of gaining a spot at the Island Games in 2021.
Heading Photo Credit – Peter Frankland
Post race interview with club president Mark Naftel:
🏃 “I’m super chuffed with the way it’s gone”@GuernseyTri staged its first race since lockdown today, the first full triathlon event in the British Isles this summer 🇬🇬
— ITV Channel Sport (@ITVChannelSport) June 7, 2020
Social distancing measures included a staggered start with athletes released in groups of five… pic.twitter.com/nYhgGWpl80
