2023 Island Games – Why is there no Swimming?
Why is their no swimming sessions from 8th till 15th July?
This is because the International Island Games will be taking place in Guernsey and nearly all of the coaches/teachers will be at the games either as a coach or they will be watching our swimmers compete in this prestigious event.
Who is in the Isle of Wight Team?
The event is a multi-sport event with the Isle of Wight Swim Team part of the larger Isle of Wight team. The Swim Team is made up of six men and six women and for the swimmers this has been a journey that started a long time ago as they have all worked very hard for their places in the Team.
For some it will be their very first games but for others this is their second and third having competed in Gotland in 2017 and Gibraltar in 2019. The team has a mixture of youth and experience and both Val Gard as the Head Coach and Justine Stewart as the Team Manager will be looking forward to what will be a very competitive event. The Men’s team are Joe Carter, George Hayward, Rossen Martin, Harry Poynter, Ben Van Der Helstraete and Will Davidson. The Women’s team are Grace Poynter, Abi Lacey, Mia Stillwell, Nell O’Brien, Isobel Muncaster and Lucy Isaacson.
Don’t Forget as well that our Club Chairman Ben Gard is also the Secretary for the whole Isle of Wight of Team.
How can I follow the team?
You can see lots of coverage from the games at the County Press social media sites, who are the main media reporter for the Isle of Wight team although I am sure it will be on various other sites such as IW Radio, Island Echo, Vectis Radio to name a few.
The official website is guernsey2023.gg and here you can link up with the swimming results as they happen with heats in the morning and finals in the evening. The event including the swimming events will also be screened live on Guernsey2023 – YouTube.
The Future
The next Island games will take place in 2025 in Orkney, just two years away, could it be you that is part of the team? All of the athletes started their swimming careers on the Island doing just what you all do, training hard day after day, week after week, month after month and now they will have the chance to go and compete on an international stage, could this be you one day?
Good luck to everyone at the Games, lets go Team Isle of Wight