This Is Guernsey

By Nick Mollet

GUERNSEY and Channel Islands athletics has never had it so good. The stats prove it.

Standards are the highest ever, with a record number of athletes making the latest national and regional top 100 rankings.

Last year was the first of the nationwide Power of 10 system which sets targets for athletes with one eye on the 2012 Olympics.

World Championships competitor Dale Garland in the 400m hurdles was the only CI athlete to reach the 2007 UK target, but four others - Kimberley Gleeson and Robin Cowling in the long jump, Jonathan Guille in the triple jump and Michael Batiste in the 400m hurdles - have achieved the Progress Review Level, the next step down.

Those four under-20s are also among those who have surpassed the south-east regional target - Gemma Tingay in the shot put and javelin, Sarah Mercier in the 3,000m and Gleeson in the triple jump.

GIAAC also has a highly creditable 27 top-10 rankings in the south-east region, while the island is represented 12 times in the top 25 nationally in various age groups and events.

Garland is ranked second nationally in the 400m hurdles with distance runner Lee Merrien 10th nationally in the 5,000m.

‘Guernsey and Jersey athletics is by far stronger than it has ever been,’ said Merrien, who doubles as the island’s athletics development officer.

‘Fifteen years ago many of the senior island records had stood for years, but now a lot of the records are held by current athletes and a lot of people are pushing those standards.

‘Much of the success is down to the dedication of the athletes and coaches at the club.’

‘It’s good to see so many people ranking so well for what is effectively a small club and island.’

He believes it actually demonstrates the strength of all sports in the island.

‘It’s good to see people doing so well and the hard work paying off. Looking at some of the youngsters we have coming through, I think they can go on to better things. I think we will develop strength in depth and the bigger the pool, the better chance we have,’ said Merrien.

While more local athletes than ever before are pushing on the door of competing in the national championships, Merrien was cautious in his response about the possibility of any Guernsey athletes making the 2012 Olympics.

‘You never know. If we can get anybody at 2012 there are a couple of people who could push for that. We are maybe looking further in the future,’ he said.

GIAAC president Rob Batiste said: ‘These results are excellent and show we are going in the right direction in terms of athlete development.

‘The Power of 10 performance analysis system really is an accurate indicator of quality and to see that we have 27 top-10 rankings in the south-east region is remarkable for an island the size of Guernsey.

‘This sort of progress does not happen overnight, but the catalyst of it has to be the work Lee Merrien has done in attracting new talent to the club. That plus the hard work of all our youth coaches, particularly Richard Cowling’s team and the endurance unit headed by Charlie Cottam, is behind this.

‘I’d also like to think that our competitive structure is now just right to show youngsters that athletics opens gateways to big competition and a chance to progress right to the top.

‘They see that the likes of Dale Garland and Lee Merrien can get to the highest level, so there is an opportunity for them. We have three in contention to go to October’s Common-wealth Youth Games in India and we hope to have twice that number returning to Delhi in 2010 for the main Commonwealths. By then I’m confident we will have sufficient strength to compete in relays for the first time, certainly the 4 x 400.’

The GIAAC president said that CI athletics as a whole is on the way up.

‘What Jersey Spartan have achieved in the last six years is remarkable and in some areas they have shown us the way. That’s down to the fantastic work of Andrew Winnie, the man behind the Sportingbet CI club which, for many, has been the ideal vehicle to raise their talents.

‘Jersey are really strong in the under-20s and under-17s, while we are on top at senior level and now at under-15.

‘It is our intention to ensure our under-15s and the talented under-13s behind them replicate Jersey’s achievements in the higher junior age groups.

‘It won’t be easy, but we are well on the way.’