Diary of the Games - May 2007

DAY 1 - Bastia, Corsica, France, Sunday May 20

The team of 38 arrived safely in Corsica on Sunday to find a very warm welcome from the World Youth Island Games organizers. After an hour to process everyone`s accreditation the whole team of runners; swimmers, sailors, gymnast and tennis players boarded the coach to the VVF Hotel located outside Bastia. A lunch was offered upon arrival, though many already had full bellies from lunch on the BA direct flight.

First item on the agenda was to rush to the beach and enjoy the 20 to 22C water of the Mediterranean sea. The athletics team, under the guidance of Ray Scovell, organized several races in the water which created much splash and fun. One swimmer had a small encounter with a huge Jelly fish which left a small mark on their shoulder. Stay tunned for tomorrow's opening ceremony at 6pm with competition starting on Tuesday May 20th.

Day 2 - Opening Ceremony, Monday May 21

The athletes of the IOW delegation spent the majority of the Monday relaxing on the beach and enjoying the surroundings of the hotel where 23 other islands were present. By 3pm all boarded the coach for the 2 minute ride to "La Place St. Nicolas" a large open squre located across the ferry port and in the heart of Bastia. During the time before the opening ceremony the athletes interacted with other island people, exchanging words, laughs and many mixed together for group snap shots. Runner Brogen Percey with a red sponge in hand painted the St Georges Cross on many faces and even on non IOW members!

One by one the islands paraded in alphabetical order to the sounds of a local band with "Wight" second to last just ahead of the host island Corsica. A few short speeches followed and the President of COJI Pierre Santoni officially declared the Eleventh "Jeux des Iles" open with a famous disabled athlete from Corsica lighting the flame.

The swimmers remained in Bastia while the rmaining athletes boarded the Casanova cruise ship for an overnight journey to Ajaccio where their competition will take place.

The Ethos of the Games can be traced back to Odysseus who said:
Sir stranger, come, into the contest too, if you have any skills that seems likely,
Since there is no greater glory
For a living man than that which
He wins with his own hands and feet.
Come, prove yourself, and throw off your cares
Your journey will soon start
The ship is launched now and the crew are ready

Swimming

The swimmers started off the competition in Bastia's 25 metre pool for the World Youth Island Games.
Louisa Critchley swum a superb 50 fly in a PB time of 31.58 and missed bronze by only .08 of a second. Mikael Popov also achieved a PB in the 50 fly in a time of 29.55. Mark Alchin produced two PBs in his two events in the 100m free in 59.39 and shaved an impressive 1.15 minutes off his 1500m race. Others did not perform to their potential and hope for better results in the next days to come.

The second day of swimming included a morning and evening session and while the 4 boys had numerous good swims with PB times, the 4 girls were not on form. At the end of the evening session Daisy Grundy, Annalise Jerram, Shannen Morris and Louisa Critchley found their racing spirit in the 4 X 100 free relay by beating, in their heat, the host team Corsica.
For the boys Jamie McDonald, 14, swum in four events and improved on all. Rhys Hunt achieved a 5 second PB in his 200 free in a time of 1.15.60. Mikael Popov placed six in the 50 breaststroke in a PB time of 32.36 and shaved off 4 seconds on the 100 fly. The team is currently placed in 8 position in overall points out of 15 islands.

Spirits were uplifted for the final day of swimming, especially for the girls who showed much greater strength and determination.Louisa started off with a PB in the 100 back and Shannen Morris followed soon after with an improved swim in the 200 breaststroke. Daisy finished it off with a very close race in the 400 free and a also a personal best time. Rhys Hunt was the only boy who achieved a PB and despite a disqualification, his time was 7 seconds faster in the grueling 200 fly. There was great excitment poolside for the relay events which concluded this final day of swimming. The swimmers left the pool with not only good times but an experience of a lifetime.

Day 3 - Tuesday May 22

After an inspirational opening ceremony the majority of the Isle of Wight team (athletics, sailing, gymnastics and tennis) departed Bastia on the overnight cruise to the southern city of Ajaccio. After an eventful evening trying to find cabins and beds the team finally docked at 6.30am and were then escorted to their hotels and sports facilities for training and further accreditation.

The athletics team had a morning training and review of their programme as did sailing. Jane Sceales came second in practice race for sailing which hopefully bodes well for the rest of the week.

In the 400m race there were 3 heats the 2nd and 3rd heat had the fastest athletes in Brogan Percy and an athlete from Crete won their respective heats in exactly the same time of 58.33 but rounded up Brogan won by 1000th of second to win the GOLD medal. Will Newnham in the 1500m race ran a personal best in 419.1 for 5th place only 2 seconds off a medal and the girls relay team 4 x 1 were 5th. Josh Gilbey threw a pb of 12.01m which placed him 10th. After the first day the Isle of Wight Athletic Team are in 8th place out of 22 teams.

The only competitive action came in the tennis where the Isle of Wight boys were in a round robin event with Elba, Corsica and Azores . The girls event across the road matched the Isle of Wight with the very strong Sicily and Mayotte. After a huge amount of technical difficulties and many delays the boys first match against Corsica was awarded to the Isle of Wight due to the non arrival of the Corsican team late in the afternoon, therefore the boys finished the day with a 3 – 0 walkover victory.

In the girls event the same technical difficulties nearly resulted in a walkover against the girls Mayotte team, however after much protest with the referee the girls finally went onto court early Tuesday evening. In the first match Reegan Greenwood who is one of the Isle of Wight youngest competitors was matched against a girl 2 ½ yrs her senior. Clearly very nervous Reegan battled extremely hard throughout the match and went down 6 -1, 6- love. In the second singles Alexa Boswell found herself again an older girl with much more power and consistency and although played extremely well was unable to win a game during the 6 – love, 6 – love match. The doubles will conclude the fixture on Thursday morning, report to follow.

Day 4 - Wednesday May 23

Athletics

The Isle of Wight has won its first ever Gold medal in the Jeux des ILes - Island Games!!!!!!!
Brogen Percy who competed in Sicily last year ran the 400m in a time of 58.33 to claim the Islands first ever medal. Brogen ran in the second heat of the race, which meant she had to wait nervously for the times of the third race before the celebrations could begin.

Other Athletes in the team also performed extremley well in 30oc heat, many of who gaining personel bests during their events. Ray Scovell will be providing a full report later in the week.

Sailing

After a early techinical meeting the team reported at the navel base for the first days racing. The Isle of Wight Team soon made friends with the only other english speaking team Jersey while making preparations for the day. Six races are planned for the week, with six being completed today.

Jane Sceales, who finished the practice race 2nd, started where she left off and finished the first race 3rd. The second race was a very tactical affair where Jane hed to battle hard against strong Itailian girls. Although unfair at times Jane still managed to finish the second race 10th. The best came in the last race when the wind picked up and the whole team improved on there positions, Jane especilly so finishing 2nd, placing her just outside a medal position on wednesday night. Full results to follow.

Gymnastics

After waiting patiently for a couple of days, Shannon Hardy and Georgia Lakey finally got the opportunity to perform in the OLympic style facilty on Wednesdqy evening. The event got started off in fantastic way with a group of local school children performing the officilial march in. The girls clearly very nervous started their 4 piece routine on the Bars followed by the Beam, floor and then the Vault. Competing against International standard competitors the girls performed well in in areas, non official results placed shannon 16th and Georgia 21st.

Tennis

The Girls started Wednesday with the match against Mayotte, although losing the doubles the Girls team of Reegan Greenwood and Alexia Boswell played far better than the following evening singles.

Their next match matched the girls against previous winners Sicily. Reegan now playing without the nerves of the previous evening really competed hard against the Sicilian number one. Although losing, 6-2 6-1, Reegan playing at bottom age, showed some real class from the baseline. Alexia the less experienced team member has also developed during her matches and went down 6-1 6-1. The girls lost the doubles 6-2 6-2 pushing the Sicilians in many games. The girls play Crete on Thursday.

The Boys team of Johnny Foulkes and Ben Brading started day 2 in high spirits, knowing a win on day two could get them through to the next stages of the tournament. The day got off to a fantastic start when Ben defeated the Number 1 from Azores 7-5 7-5, playing tennis well above his normal high standards. The next match matched a very strong number 2 against Johnny. Although he battled hard Johnny went down 6-2 6-2; The deciding doubles was closer than the score suggests with the Island going down 6-2 6-2.

The Boys then had a short wait before playing again, this time against the Itailian Islnd of Elba. Ben was matched against a boy ranked 5th in Italy, losing 6-0 6-0. This time it was Johnny to level the match winning comfortably 6-2 6-2. The deciding doubles with the strong number one from Elba playing was going to be tough, and the boys went down 6-3 6-2. The Boys play Madaire on Thursday.