Portsmouth Triathlon

South Central Race Series

14 June 2015

A team of 17 Jacksons Jersey Tristars made the trip over to Portsmouth to take part in the British Triathlon South Central Series event at the weekend.  After swimming running and cycling their way to the finish line there were a large number of podium finishes for the Jersey youngsters.

First to race in a field of 53 triathletes were the oldest Tristars 3 age group with a large Jersey contingent made up of Jack Kennedy, Peter Holmes, Will Atkinson, Archie Swain, Harvey Butler, Lily McGarry and Adele Maher.  Six of the Jersey seven were in the group of leading athletes as they exited the water after a cold 300m sea swim. After the 6.8km cycle and 2.4km run Peter Holmes, with a particularly strong bike leg, had pushed himself up through the leaders to finish in second place with Jack Kennedy, returning from injury, just missing the podium in fourth.  In the girls’ race Lily McGarry, after a typically strong swim, lost places on the bike but finished with a strong run to take fourth girl . Adele Maher finished a very creditable seventh girl. 

Competing against 59 other triathletes, a small squad of Tristars 2 was made up of Daniel Roderick, Jonty Butler, Thomas Atkinson and Lily Scott.  Atkinson was the leading Jersey competitor finishing the 200m swim, 4.8km cycle and 1.8km run in a time of 23:07 to take third in the boys category.  Scott and Roderick had their own private battle as they fought out a sprint finish to the line with Roderick finishing inside the top ten in eighth and Scott finishing fifth in the girls category.

Jersey’s Tristars 1 team was packed with quality and several of Jersey’s competitors were thought to have a strong chance of victory in a field of 35.The boys’ team was made up of Luke Holmes, Freddie Lucas, Charlie Hart, Adam Kennedy and Casper Whitewood while Elizabeth Atkinson was the sole girl in the team. As expected the Jersey athletes packed out the leading positions and as they came off of the bike it was a Jersey 1-2-3 as Lucas led Hart from Holmes.  Atkinson was not far behind in close competition with the leading girl.  After a fraught transition it was Holmes who emerged ahead of his team-mates whilst two other competitors had sped through transition to lead the Jersey group.  Holmes battled on through the run to regain the lead by the finish line whilst Lucas fought hard to take the final podium place. The quality of this particular team shone through with the boys, taking five of the top seven positions and Atkinson didn’t disappoint either taking second taking, just eight seconds behind the winner in the girls category.

The Jersey athletes were congratulated by the travelling coaches as well as other teams who were clearly impressed by the visitors’ performances.  The children, coaches and parents would like to thank Fintan Kennedy for organising what is the largest group trip to date for the growing Jersey Tristars.  Details of all Tristars training and racing can be found on the website at www.juniorjerseytri.com.

Jacksons’ only female apprentice Mercedes-Benz technician has won a top industry award.

Jodie Fallaize (21) was named Technical Apprentice of the Year at the Mercedes-Benz Apprentice of the Year Awards 2015. More than 400 apprentices from across the United Kingdom were considered for the illustrious award.

"I wasn’t expecting it at all, it was a total surprise. I was the only woman nominated so I was absolutely delighted, even though it was a complete shock," said Miss Fallaize.

"I’ve always been into cars. My dad was a technician so it probably comes from there."

Miss Fallaize, who studied engineering at the College of Further Education, joined the dealership’s parts department as an adviser in 2012. She is in the second year of her Mercedes-Benz technician apprenticeship.

Bob Snell, general aftersales manager, said Miss Fallaize had shown great promise from the start of her time with Jacksons.

He said: "Jodie showed herself to be hardworking and proficient in her role as a parts adviser and during the 2013 apprentice intake, when Jodie applied, there was only one winner. To see Jodie not only blossom in this programme, but achieve UK recognition for her skill, knowledge and attitude, is a very proud moment for Jacksons. Our people are our greatest asset and work really hard to set us apart from the competition. Jodie’s award further demonstrates that we have some great and talented people here in Guernsey.

"Our normal apprentice route, would be to enrol our apprentices into the Guernsey College of Education apprenticeship programme, to which we have had good input and success, bringing through talented individuals. But Jodie didn’t join us directly from school and had some good life skills. We looked at this as an option to try a manufacturer apprenticeship programme and to be honest, we haven’t looked back."

Jacksons currently has six apprentices at various levels of the apprenticeship programme.

Once qualified, they begin their journey to become a Master Technician. Jacksons currently has 14 technicians within the dealership, with eight of them holding current Master Technician status and training plans in place for the others to reach this level.

Many thanks to Bailiwick Express for the story.