January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
Bermuda team should bring home lots of gold from Island Games
Gold medalists Geri Mewett (cycling) and Laura Robinson (golf) are returning to defend their titles as more than 2,000 competitors from 25 countries compete for glory.
Bermuda's men's basketball team will be the first to kit up as they open up the competition with a game against Jersey Saturday morning. The men's football team will take the field just an hour later as they make their first foray into the Games.
Here, James Whittaker and Don Burgess profiles our team and scout out who will be jostling with them for podium finishes.
Archery
Outlook: Jeanne Butterfield has scraped into the top ten at the last two Island Games, while Paul Harshaw has to make amends after finishing last in 2003 and not competing in 05. Both are entered in five events: Head to head knockout, Single FITA recurve team, Single FITA recurve, 720 recurve and Recurve head to head.
Neither is expected to medal but the experienced Butterfield could have an outside shot if things go her way.
Competition: Isle of Man's Jane Moore won two golds last time out while the Faroe Islands won three team golds.
Team: Jeanne Butterfield, Paul Harshaw
Athletics
Outlook: The inclusion of an athletics team in the travelling party for the first time is one of the major success stories of this year's Island Games - before the event has even started.
The team is a mix of older athletes and young up and coming stars.
The half-marathon looks to be Bermuda's best chance of a medal with a host of May 24 stars in both the men's and women's teams.
Terrance Armstrong and Jay Donawa look the best bets in the mens with Dawn Richardson and Victoria Fiddick, one and two in the marathon derby, serious contenders in the womens.
Xavier James is still sharp over 100m and should be in with a shout of a medal. Of the youngsters Shianne Smith and Melissa Clarke are tipped to go well.
Coach Tony Bean, who will run the 400m, has targeted at least six medals for his team.
Competition: Cayman Islands dominated over the sprints last time with Carl and Carlos Morgan netting gold and silver in the 200m and silver and bronze in the 100m - they should provide stiff competition for Xavier James and Daniel Tucker.
In the half-marathon Michael Sanchez of Gibraltar romped to gold with a time of 1:11:34. 1:15 was the barometer for making the podium - easily within the reach of Terrance and Jay. In the women's Joanna Walker, from Orkney, was the victor in a time of 1:25:31. To make bronze a time of 1:28 or less was required last time. Much depends on the course but those times look achievable for Bermuda's top distance runners. Richardson, for example, won a hot and hilly May 24 in 1:27:30.
Team, Men: Allan Bean, Daniel Tucker, Oren Smith, Keimar Clarke, Xavier James, Albert Donawa, Ricky Sousa, Terrance Armstrong
Team, Women: Victoria Fiddick, Melissa Clarke, Shianne Smith, Dawn Richardson, Jennifer Alen, Jarita Dill,Chloe Kempe
Support Staff: Jay Fiddick - Trainer, Anthony DeRosa - Therapist, Allan Bean coach
Basketball
Outlook: Defending gold medallists Bermuda will have a harder time this year. With just four teams in the competition last time around they went to Gibraltar expecting to get gold.
And they delivered, beating Cayman in the final. Pro Sullivan Phillips, who enjoyed a brilliant first season in the Hungarian A-League, will be the team's leader.
Roderick Spencer's squad should have more experience than last time and will be solid favourites to win gold again.
The women's team, with University of Tennessee-Chatanooga star Jenaya Wade-Fray having gained invaluable experience in U.S. college basketball, also look strong.
They were expected to contend for the gold medal last time but did not make the championship game. If they play to their potential here, a place on the podium is a realistic prospect.
Competition: One thing is for sure it will be a longer route to the final this time with 11 teams competing in the men's and eight in the women's event.
Cayman Islands (gold in womens, silver in mens last time) and Gibraltar should provide the sternest competition.
Team, Men: Jonathan Minors, Vance Lamont, Sullivan Phillips, Graham Robinson, Dean Jones, John Lee, Steven Simons, Greg Todd, Jason Lowe, Chris Crumpler, Phil Davis, Dale Jackson
Team, Women: Diane Laird, Denice Burgess, Erica Woods, Jamila Godwin, Jenaya Wade-Fray, Lindsay Garrett, Marissa Wainwright, Susan Ross, Onika Holder, Teshae Thompson, Danielle Watson, Jamela Simons
Coaches: Brian Purvey, Gavin Mackenzie, Roderick Spencer, Tim Trott, Richard North, Ralph Scott, Eric Woods
Support Staff: Craig Behan
Cycling
Outlook: A very strong cycling team with a good mix of youth and experience. Veteran pro Geri Mewett won gold in Shetland in '05 and could be a marked man this time around.
But few local riders are performing better than Garth Thompson right now. Thompson stayed right with Tyler Butterfield for the bulk of the national championships road race and is looking stronger and sharper than ever.
Mark Hatherley, Bermuda's king of the mountains, is also expected to go well on a hilly course in Rhodes.
Manager Peter Dunne believes Thompson will be hard to beat in time trial and tipped Ricky Sousa jnr as another who could go well.
Dee McMullen medaled in the road race last time around and has targeted a good time trial as her main goal for this event. Her sister, Kim, is in with a big chance of making the podium in the mountain biking event.
Competition: The Isle of Man has a strong cadre of cyclists and snagged 14 of the 39 cycling medals.
Team, Men: Ricky Sousa Jr, Wayne Scott, Geri Mewett, Garth Tomson, Mark Hatherley
Team, Women: Ashley Robinson, Kim McMullen, Deanna McMullen
Support Staff: Glen Robinson, Peter Dunne, Danielle Bezant
Football
Outlook: Even with an under-23 team Bermuda should be strong contenders for gold in the men's football event.
The team is packed with talent. Players like McQuinn Burch, Shayne Hollis, Angelo Simmons and the hugely talented Keishen Bean have been on the fringes of the senior national team.
And, even at under-20 level, have played at a higher level than this.
Kenny Thompson has had them in training five or six times a week for the last few months and is looking to this squad as the future of Bermuda.
It's always tough for young sides playing against more seasoned players, particularly teams with a tendency towards rough and ready football. But Thompson's boys have enough talent to bring back gold.
The women, who took bronze last time, also have an improving squad, and could be a medal contender again. They will have to find a new goalscoring outlet though as Katie Luckhurst and Tschana Wade, who bagged four goals each last time, are not making the trip. Ebonie Burgess, who medaled in golf last time, is looking to add to her collection.
Competition: Shetland Islands were the victors last time out beating Guernsey 2-0 in the final. Both teams were unbeaten going into the final match.
Guernsey, the channel island which produced former England stars Matt Le Tissier and Graham Le Saux, have strong footballing traditions and are tipped as Bermuda's strongest contender.
In the women's Faroe Islands, who won comfortably last time, have given everyone else a shot by not sending a team.
Aland and Isle of Man look the strongest challengers.
Team, Men: Daniel Johnson, Clyde Darrell, Cud-Joe Mathews, McQuinn Burch, Antonio Lowe, Devrae Tankard, Jacqui Simons, Robert Richardson, Marquel Waldron, Randy Spence, Seion Darrell, Keishen Bean, Shayne Hollis, Cecoy Robinson, Jason Davis, Nahki Wells, Tumani Steede, Tyrell Burgess, Angelo Simmons, Ajani Gibbons
Team, Women: Kimmisha Perinchief, Ebonie Burgess, Waynesha Bean, Sonte Compbell, Arketia Smith, Jenay Edness, Ashley Wall, Vinze Zuill, Juanita Smith, Jessica Furtado, Whitnae Duerr, Nyisha Saunders, Dominique Richardson, Chloe Martin, Akilah Bremar, Shabena Crockwell, Jasmin Johansen, Cheyra Bell, Tiffany Swann, Raneika Bean
Coaches: Vance Brown, Jeremy Salaam, Kenny Tompson, Albert Smith, George Hayward.
Supporting Staff: Andrew Griffith
Golf
Outlook: Sergio Edness and Nick Mansell return from the team that won bronze in Shetland.
Andrew Hunt, who won individual bronze last time, is not making the trip. College golfer Sergio Edness and Leroy Burch make up the men's team.
Laura Robinson, who won individual gold last time, is the star of the women's squad and should be in the medal hunt again. Ebonie Burgess, who took silver, has opted to play football instead.
Competition: Isle of Man, led by Kevin Moore, won the team and individual men's gold last time and Guernsey won team silver and individal silver.
In the women's Shetland Islands won gold, with Sophie Beardsell, from Isle of Wight, taking individual bronze.
Team, Men: William Haddrell, Sergio Edness, G. Leroy Burch, Nick Mansell
Team, Women: Yana Ballantyne, Laura Robinson, Katrin Burnie, Katyna Rabain
Sailing
Outlook: Instead of pinning its medal hops on one man, Bermuda has sent a team this time. With Stevie Dickinson, John Gardner, Campbell Duffy and Rockal Evans, Bermuda should be in the medal hunt for both the team and individual events.
Dickinson's and Gardner's veteran leadership should blend well with the youth of Duffy and Evans.
Dickinson and Duffy will sail laser radials while Gardner and Evans compete in lasers.
Brett Wright was the island's only competitor last time in the lasers, but he won gold so this year's group have a high standard to meet. Bermuda's Sara Lane Adderley won gold in the laser radials and Bermuda has good pedigree as the foremost sailing nation in the competition.
Competition: Jersey has some reasonable sailors and Darragh Lee of Guernsey just missed out on a medal last time, and should be tacking with the Bermudians for podium spots in the lasers.
None of the medal winners from Shetland will be back. Richard Gray from the Isle of Wight finished 10th last time and is the highest returning competitor so it should be a wide open regatta.
Team: Stevie Dickinson, John Gardner, Campbell Duffy and Rockal Evans
Swimming
Outlook: A talented squad of young swimmers heads to Rhodes with genuine hopes of bringing back some medals.
Ashley Aitken, the Dalhousie University athlete, just missed out on qualifying for the Pan Am Games and is the strongest and most experienced of the bunch. She could well make the podium in the sprint freestyle or butterfly events.
At Shetland Bermuda sent a young and inexperienced team and came back empty handed.
And though they have gone a similar route this time, assistant national coach Ben Smith believes they are much further ahead in their development.
Lara Loescher set a new national 50m breastroke record at Carifta and every member of the team has a national record, at least at age group level.
Smith believes they are the best bunch of swimmers Bermuda has had for some time and has tipped some of them to go on to be Olympians. But the bulk of the squad is aged 14-16 and they will be up against much more experienced competitors in Rhodes. Of the youngsters Loescher and Nick Thompson look the strongest bets for the podium.
Competition: Jersey and Guernsey dominated last time around winning 50 of the 63 medals in the men's competition last time around.
The women's events were more wide open. Heather Roffey of the Cayman Islands was a multi-gold medallist but various different countries took honours in an open field.
Team, Men: Nick Thomson, Julian Fletcher
Team, Women: Ashley Aitken, Eleanor Gardner, Nicole Yearwood, Lara Loescher, Rebecca Sharpe
Coaches: Richard Goodwin, Sue Sharpe
Tennis
Outlook: Bermuda's tennis players go to this event brimming with confidence. Coach Steve Bean said it was nice to be heading to an international competition with a genuine chance of winning for a change -something that doesn't happen in the hugely competitive Davis and Fed Cup events. Andy Bray, consistently the top local player, will lead the team and is a genuine contender for gold in the individual event.
Gavin Manders, who has been playing to a decent level at college, and talented youngster David Thomas, who has been training at a tennis academy in Texas, are also strong prospects.
Ashley Brooks, the talented teenager who has dominated women's tennis in Bermuda for the past year, has been working with a personal coach in the States and should be in with a shout of a medal. Fellow teenagers Jackie Lambert and Caitlin Gordon, both of whom are at academies in the U.S. are also part of the women's team.
Competition: Not much is known since this event wasn't held at Shetland.
Team, Men: Andy Bray, Jenson Bascome, David Thomas, Gavin Manders, Jacob Trott
Team, Women: Zarah DeSilva, Ashley Brooks, Caitlin Gordon, Jacklyn Lambert, Cayla Cross
Coaches: Ricky Mallory, Steve Bean
Triathlon
Outlook: Kent Richardson looks Bermuda's strongest contender in the men's event. The veteran competitor is hoping to run the Olympic Distance in 2:05 to 2:15, which should give him a respectable result.
The course and the suffocating heat of the Greek island could play against the 48-year-old, though.
Kim McMullen, who will get straight off her mountain bike to compete in the triathlon, is always a medal contender.
And Karen Bordage, who excelled at the Brazil Ironman recently, should also be in with a chance, though little is known about the quality of the field.
Competition: With the chilly waters of Shetland making triathlon a no-go last time around there is no yardstick to judge the quality of the competition.
The Bermudian team will be venturing into the unknown in terms of the course, conditions and competition.
Team, Men: Kent Richardson, Andrew Davis
Team, Women: Karen Bordage, Kim McMullen
Coach: Andrew Davis
Volleyball
Outlook: Bermuda lost just two matches last time, but they were both to Saarema - the last one coming in the two-hour gold medal game. Saarema won the match three games to two, taking the final game 15 to 13. It was a heartbreaking loss for the Bermuda team, which had improved significantly from their earlier loss to the gold medallists.
Volleyball in Bermuda has stepped up to a new competitive level, with the Island Games the main focus of the calendar for the island's players.
They have been preparing for this event for almost a year and should be in good shape.
The women's team finished sixth, losing the fifth place match to Greenland, last time, but are expecting a better result this year.
They have been training hard and have had foreign competition earlier this year.
We're really not going out on a limb here when we predict that Bermuda will win medals in both the men's and womens' beach volleyball competition - there are only three countries entered in each event.
Competition: Saarema will be the team to beat again in the men's competition. Faroe Islands won the men's bronze medal game over Aland and both countries should also be in the hunt again this time.
In the women's event Faroe Islands won gold against Saarema and the two volleyball powerhouses will both be back.
The women's field is one of the most popular team sports with 14 countries entered making it a long route to the gold medal game.
Saarema is likely to be the gold medal favourite in both genders of beach volleyball, but Bermuda should rate a slight edge over Gotland for the two silvers.
Team, Men: Bruce Sinclair, Bill Bailey, Eric Haller, Gary LeBlanc, Alvin Bell, Geoffrey Blee, Adam Fowler, Mike Gazzard, Ihab Khalil, John Martin, Adam Wong, Jon Gazzard, Andrew Soares
Coaches: Gary LeBlanc, Tristum Cunningham, Adam Wong, Bill Bucci
Team, Women: Juanita Blee, Shauna Burns, Kim Burns, Wendy Gazzard, Lisa LeBlanc, Lori Morbey, Denise Summerville, Cora Lee Starzomski, Katarina Carnicka, Joanie Harper, Allyson Nicol, Elisabeth Rae, Kelly Ross. Rebecca White
Coaches: Stacey Dorush
Support Staff: Alex Hunter, Raina Steer
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