TIM JOHNS and Karina Bowie are Guernsey’s new Granite Man and Woman.

The De Putron Fund Management sponsored Guernsey Triathlon Club held the second running of their prestigious Granite Man event on Sunday at Pembroke and two Sarnians came out victors.

Eighty-six competitors including 25 from the UK were on the start line at 7am to take up the challenge with the option of a middle-distance or sprint triathlon.

Calm weather gave perfect conditions for the swim, with the sun rising across the bay to show the island at its best to the visiting competitors.

For the main Granite Man event the first stage was a 1.9km sea swim, which saw Commonwealth Games swimmer Jonathan Le Noury first out of the water for the Specsavers relay team, followed by David Hill and Ross Spencer, both visiting from Middlesex.

The Specsavers team were then never headed with excellent efforts from both Aaron Bailey and Ian Merrien on the bike and run to finish in 4-01-37.

In the individual event competition was hotting up out on the 90km coastal bike route with two local triathletes Richard Stapley and Tim Johns working their way to the front to lead into transition.

Stapley held a narrow lead, but was quickly caught by Johns on the 21km run, who went on to claim the Granite Man honours in 4-21-54. Stapley was three minutes behind, with Matt Dorrian in third.

‘Richard was really pushing it on the bike,’ said Johns, ‘and I just did my best to hang on to him.