'Supermanx' swimmers boost Games medal tally to 46

Manx swimmers go back to the Isle of Man with 16 event medals to their name

The swimming team helped boost the Isle of Man's medal tally to 46 on the penultimate day of action at the Island Games.

The swimmers, who sported 'supermanx' T-shirts during their medal ceremonies, won two golds and a silver in the pool on day five, with further medals for the Isle of Man won in cycling, tennis, archery and badminton.

The haul puts the island back up in third position in the overall medals table.

Swimmer Peter Allen, who was part of the men's winning 4x100m freestyle relay on Thursday, said his week in Guernsey had been "a dream come true".

The Manx athlete will be taking eight medals back home to the Isle of Man - a haul of four golds, three silvers and one bronze.

Joel Watterson also clocked up another individual medal on day five in the shape of the men's 50m freestyle, which he swam in a time of 22.93 seconds.

He said his Island Games had been "incredible, especially the relays".

"I couldn't have done it without these boys," he said.

Meanwhile, Laura Kinley narrowly missed out on her third gold of the week by coming runner-up in women’s 100m individual medley race but said she had been "over the moon" at her performances throughout the week.

Manx swimmers took home three medals in the pool on Thursday

"Nothing beats standing on top of the podium and singing the Isle of Man's national anthem, with all the supporters in the crowd, and I'm lucky enough to be able to do it with all my team-mates too," Kinley said.

In the final swimming race of the 2023 competition, the mixed 4x50m freestyle team missed out on a third place finish by one hundredth of a second.

Bronze placed Caymen Islands finished in 1:38.67, with the Manx quartet a whisker behind in 1:38.68.

Sacha Horsthuis and Kirree Quayle won their second medal of the week on their mountain bikes

Following on from their victory earlier in the week, Sacha Horsthuis and Kirree Quayle were runners-up to hosts Guernsey in the women's mountain bike cross country event.

Quayle, who also won bronze on Tuesday in the individual event said she was really happy to be going home with "one of each colour" having won silver.

For Horsthuis it was "full gas for an hour and half" through the exposed course on the coast in strong winds, but she said the team managed because "we're used to the Manx winds".

The double medallist said she was "super pleased" with the result and it had been "surreal competing at this level and representing the island" for the first time.

The men’s team also secured a bronze medal, equalling their podium position earlier in the week.

The island's archers notched up six medals at the Games

In archery, the island's mixed team made it to the final of the compound head to head team knockout to claim silver.

Rhys Moore said it had been a "tough old week with the way the wind's been" but "we’ve come away with a really good collection of medals".

Reserve shooter Joy Gough, who shot her last competitive arrows of the Island Games this week, said: "I was at the back thinking 'I hope nothing goes wrong!'"

"The team have done a brilliant job the whole way through, we build it at home and we just have fun."

"We’re off to party with all the archers," she added.

Anna Kirk won her first Island Games medal in Guernsey

On the Tennis court, Anna Kirk faced Guernsey player Lauren Watson-Steele with the backdrop of lots of home support for her opponent.

After winning the match she said: "I think its great people are coming to support their players, it’s a really great atmosphere.

"My team were being super loud too, I had some guys and girls from the basketball team come to support."

Going on to take the bronze after a second-set fightback, she said she was "chuffed to medal" at her first Games.

"Next time I’m going for the gold," she added.

Kirk will play again in Friday's mixed doubles final with partner Sean Drewry after beating the Cayman Islands, with Marc Chinn and Karen Faragher securing bronze in the same event.

And Faragher will be back out on the court with team-mate Sarah Long in the women's mixed doubles after fending off opposition from Jersey to make it to Friday's final.

One of the final medals of the day to be secured was a bronze for the Isle of Man in badminton for Matthew Nicholson and Jess Li at Rohais Badminton Hall.

The men’s football team, who were defending champions going into the competition, beat the next hosts of the games, the Orkney Islands, 1-0 to finish 9th overall on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the women's team will face Menorca in the bronze medal play-off match after losing 1-0 to Bermuda.