Jersey history being made in the pool

Monday 09 April 2018

Jersey swimmers are smashing island and their own lifetime records in the 2018 Commonwealth Games, also making the island's debut in a final race.

It’s been an historic Commonwealth Games for Jersey, not only has the island been represented for the first time in the men’s gymnastics event, but the Jersey gymnasts have all made it to the finals and for the first time ever, Jersey has reached a swimming final too.

Swimmer Harry Shalamon has had a games he will never forget, as he was up against some of the best swimmers in the world when he qualified for the 50m backstroke final. With a glimpse of a medal in sight - which would be the island’s first for almost 30 years – local support came out in force for Shalamon. He finished with a time of 25.73, putting him in a respectable 6^th place.

Jersey Supporters all gathered at the swimming to see Harry Shalamon, the first ever Jersey team athlete to swim in commonwealth final. Good luck Harry we will be cheering our hearts out. #teamjersey. @JerseySport @cgaj pic.twitter.com/GjiB2YN6Sv

— Catriona McAllister (@Catrionamc74) April 8, 2018

But that’s not the only heat Shalamon is outperforming expectations. Among a number of new personal best times, he beat his own fastest time in the 100m butterfly clocking in at 56:24. A top performance from Jersey’s Gemma Atherley is making it a clear sweep of records in the pool, as she broke the fourth island record with a time of 30.91 in the 50m backstroke. Although she won her heat, she didn't make it through to the semi-final. Atherley also swam her fastest ever time of 58.42 in the 100m freestyle heat.   

In athletics, Sam Dawkins also made a new personal best time of 47.23 in the 400m qualifying heats during his Commonwealth games debut.

Jersey fullbore shooter Barry Le Cheminant is giving the island another glimpse of a medal hope, after his performance with his Queen’s Prize Pairs partner David Le Quesne in the fullbore shooting event. Le Cheminant and Le Quesne finished 7th on 297 with 23 v-bulls.  They’ll continue their competition in the second day of the event tomorrow.  

@JerseyShooting Jersey in the hunt in the Commonwealth Games Fullbore Pairs event pic.twitter.com/8E4xlJyp6r

— Bruce Horwood (@762022Bruce) April 9, 2018

Also in shooting, Nikki Holmes finished 14^th in the women’s 10m Air Pistol Qualification and Cameron Pirouet finished 13^th in the men’s 10m Air Rifle qualification round. Pirouet will compete again tomorrow alongside Jersey’s Andrew Chapman in the men’s 50m Rifle Prone event.  Holmes will also be back in action in the women’s 25m Pistol Qualification Precision.

Elsewhere over the weekend on the Gold Coast, the Jersey flag was flying high in the Gymnastics event as all three island gymnasts competed in the finals. Daniel Lee, Jersey’s first ever male gymnast finished 12^th in his competition, while Bonita Shurmer and Rachelle Flambard finished 17^th and 18^th respectively in the women’s final.

Pictured: Jersey's men's triple were knocked out of the quarter-final after loosing 7-17 to Canada. Malcolm De Sousa (standing centre) went on to win his match in the singles event. (CWAJ)

Jersey’s Men’s Triple run of victories in the bowls came to an end in the Quarter Final match. They lost to Canada 17-7, knocking them out of the competition. But Malcolm De Sousa has gone on and made a positive start to his competition in the singles event, winning his match against Botswana’s John Gaborutwe 21-6. He now faces Northern Ireland’s Gary Kelly in the group stage.

Unfortunately, Jersey’s women aren’t having as much success in the bowls. After a run of losses in the singles and fours event, Rachel Macdonald and Christine Grimes have now come together to compete in the pairs competition. They lost their first match against South Africa 6-23.

Doreen Moon, Eileen Vowden and Joan Renouf are representing Jersey in the women’s triples event. They lost their first match in the group stage 7-18 against Wales.  

Lead photo by Commonwealth Games Association of Jersey