News / They’re off!
THE FIRST Shetland athletes arrive in the heat of Bermuda on Monday morning for this year’s NatWest Island Games.
The five triathletes were the first to take off for the remote island in the west Atlantic to acclimatise themselves to the average temperatures of 30 degrees Centigrade before their first event on Sunday morning, the first event of the games.
The rest of the 45 strong team of competitors and officials gathered at the weekend for a group photo in Lerwick and will all meet back up in Bermuda in the middle of the week.
Team Shetland is competing in eight sports – athletics, cycling, golf, sailing, clay shooting, squash, swimming and triathlon.
Flag bearer at Saturday’s opening ceremony will be half marathon runner Karl Simpson from Burra for whom it will be his sixth games.
Water carrier for the opening ceremony will be swimmer Andrea Starchan, who won four gold medals at the last games in the Isle of Wight two years ago.
All the teams bring water from their islands to pour into a specially designed fountain that will flow until the competition ends on Friday 19 July. It may not be the only water around, as storms are forecast for next weekend.
Shetland Islands Games Association chairman Andrew Inkster thanked everyone involved in planning for the event, especially the association volunteers and fundraising supporters, including overall team sponsor Malakoff Ltd and travel sponsors Serco NorthLink.
“It has taken a lot of work and planning over the last few months to plan for
this year’s games,” he said.
“We are happy to now be ready for Bermuda 2013 and our competitors are now briefed on the plans for travel, accommodation and sports programmes.”
A full list of the Shetland athletes taking part in Bermuda can be found here.
All the results will be posted on the official results website at www.natwestislandgames2013results.com
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