Golden night for Manx swimmers at the Island Games

Joel Watterson (left) delivered two gold medals in the pool on day four of sporting action

The Isle of Man team added another 10 medals to its tally at the Island Games, with half being being won in the pool on day four.

Medals were also clinched in table tennis, archery, shooting and discus.

Rachael Franklin claimed her second gold in two days by smashing an Island Games record in the women's 5,000m.

It brings the total number of medals for the team to 37, which sees the Manx team sitting in fourth position overall.

The island's swimmers won five events in the pool on Wednesday at the Games

Laura Kinley was first off the blocks to win gold for the island's swimming team in the 100m breaststroke on Wednesday.

Joel Watterson then won back-to-back races to come top in the men's 100m freestyle and 50m butterfly races.

Speaking to Manx Radio he said they were "the two events I like to focus on" and he "couldn’t be happier" with the result.

His team-mate Peter Allen also claimed silver in the 50m butterfly to make it a Manx first and second on the podium.

The men's 4x100 medley relay team took the evening's medal haul in the pool at Beau Sejour to five by securing the bronze.

Rachael Franklin won her second medal of the Guernsey Games in the women's 5,000m

Meanwhile at the track, Franklin said she went into the women's 5,000m having not had the best night's sleep because she had been "wired" from her win in the 1,500m and from receiving "so many lovely messages" afterwards.

But she led the pack from the very beginning, and comfortably shaved 40 seconds off the Island Games record for the event with a time of 16 minutes and 5 seconds.

The runner said it was "really windy around the top bend but the crowd just lifted me every time I went past, the support for this Games has been absolutely amazing".

The crowds at the Footes Lane stadium celebrated with Franklin

It means Franklin now holds the Island Games records for the women's 800m, 1,500m and 5,000m, which she said was the "cherry on top of the cake".

In the discus, Tamzin Fayle recorded a distance of 38.44m in her final throw to secure a bronze, her first medal at the Island Games.

Rhys Moore won his second medal of the week on Wednesday

Elsewhere, Rhys Moore won silver in the men's compound head-to-head knockout, to add to his team bronze secured earlier in the week.

Moore said: "It was very gusty... so it's made some of the matches all the way along very close, very interesting, and right to the last arrow, which that one was."

The island also took a team bronze in the shooting, and a further bronze was won by Katherine Vinas in table tennis.

She said it had taken a lot to make it through a "very, very tough" hour-long quarter final.

Although her aim had been to better the bronze she won in Gibraltar in 2019, she said she was "so happy" to medal again.

"All the islands have very strong females, so you cant be like 'oh yeah this is going to be an easy route', every route is difficult," she said.

Katherine Vinas won a bronze medal on her 34th birthday

Also at the Games, in badminton Jess Li made it into the women’s singles final.

She will also compete in the women's doubles final alongside Isle of Man team-mate Kim Clague.

Meanwhile, several of the island's tennis players and doubles teams progressed the semi-finals of the competition.

However, the Manx women's basketball team was beaten 102-40 by Menorca in their semi-final.

But the team now head to the play-off match against hosts Guernsey for a bronze medal on Friday morning.