Isle of Man Athletics has announced the selection of the following squad of athletes to represent the Isle of Man at this summer’s NatWest Island Games, to be held in Guernsey from 8th to 14th July:
Men
Alex Bell
Daniel Clague
Alan Corlett
Regan Corrin
Ryan Corrin
Will Draper
Joe Harris
Sam Jones
Corrin Leeming
Ollie Lockley
James Margrave
Gethin Owen
Anand Patel
Samuel Perry
Kazu Senior
Sebastien Sgouraditis
Ben Sinclair
Nathan Teece
Women
Aimee Christian
Imogen Cook
Andrea Ecolango
Tazmin Fayle
Rachael Franklin
Macy Hillier
Megan Lockwood
Lydia Morris
Lucy Ormsby
Rebekah Pate
Catherine Perry
Meghan Pilley
Carla Teece
Tegan Thompson
Sarah Webster
The team is a mixture of experience and youth, headlined by four of the Isle of Man’s Commonwealth Games athletes who competed in Birmingham last year. They are middle to long distance runner Rachael Franklin (four time an individual gold medallist at the Island Games), distance runner Sarah Webster, javelin thrower Joe Harris and distance runner Ollie Lockley (twice an individual gold medallist). In addition, Alan Corlett is an Island Games gold medallist in steeplechase and 10,000 metres, and James Margrave won the bronze medal in the high jump in the last Games in Gibraltar in 2019.
No fewer than 20 of the 33-strong squad will be Island Games debutants in Guernsey. With the extra two-year gap since Gibraltar 2019 because of the Covid-related postponement, it is likely that the majority of the islands will field similarly inexperienced teams this time. The Isle of Man’s relay squads in particular are very much at the development stage at present, with the aim being to gain experience in Guernsey and to challenge for medals in the next Games in two years’ time.
The team will be under the management of Petra Atchison for the first time, with management support being provided by Steve Partington and Kelly Hillier. Steve was part of the support team in 2019 and brings invaluable experience of international competition as manager of the Isle of Man’s Commonwealth Games athletics team.
Best wishes go to the team for a successful and enjoyable week in Guernsey in July.