Strong choices for BDA Sun Athlete of the Year

It was a banner year for the island’s men in sporting competitions. Several national records were broken; medals were won at international games competitions and a world champion retained his title.

Over the next three editions we will be asking you to vote Male Sports personality of the Year, Female Sports Personality of the Year and young Sports Personality of the Year.

Last year rugby’s Tom Healy won for Male Sports Personality of the Year, but other past winners include tennis star Gavin Manders and two-time winner Dwayne ‘Sluggo’ Leverock.

Starting today, Don Burgess profiles the male candidates, following up on Wednesday with the women and finishing next Friday with the youth.

There are three ways to vote: 1) an online poll in the Sports section of the Bermuda Sun website (www.bermudasun.bm); 2) e-mail Don Burgess at [email protected]; 3) or post on the Bermuda Sun’s Facebook page. You are allowed to cast your ballot once in each of the three ways of voting. 

The winners will be announced in the new year.

It was a banner year for the island’s men in sporting competitions. Several national records were broken; medals were won at international games competitions and a world champion retained his title.

Over the next three editions we will be asking you to vote Male Sports personality of the Year, Female Sports Personality of the Year and young Sports Personality of the Year.

Last year rugby’s Tom Healy won for Male Sports Personality of the Year, but other past winners include tennis star Gavin Manders and two-time winner Dwayne ‘Sluggo’ Leverock.

Starting today, Don Burgess profiles the male candidates, following up on Wednesday with the women and finishing next Friday with the youth.

There are three ways to vote: 1) an online poll in the Sports section of the Bermuda Sun website (www.bermudasun.bm); 2) e-mail Don Burgess at [email protected]; 3) or post on the Bermuda Sun’s Facebook page. You are allowed to cast your ballot once in each of the three ways of voting. 

The winners will be announced in the new year.

Roy Burch

Swimming

Burch won a bronze medal at the Caribbean Island Swimming Championships and represented Bermuda at the CAC Games and Commonwealth Games. 

Tyler Butterfield 

Triathlon

Butterfield added to Bermuda’s medal haul in the CAC Games when he won bronze. The athlete was also second in the Boulder Ironman.; second in the Hawaii Lavaman; third in the St. Croix Ironman and fifth in the Mooseman Ironman. 

Aaron Evans 

Athletics

Evans broke the Bermuda national 800 metres record – a mark held by Steve Burgess for 25 years. 

He first broke it at the SEC Championships competing for the University of Georgia, where he finished second with a time of 1:47. 

He would later break it three more times as he raced his way to a bronze medal at the NCAA National Championships.

He also won a silver medal in the 800 metres at the NACAC Under-23 Championships in Florida.

David Hemp 

Cricket

It wasn’t exactly a banner year for Bermuda cricket, but Hemp managed to impress selectors who picked him for the ICC Intercontinental Shield XI. Hemp was top scorer with 84 in a nine-wicket defeat to UAE. He was also top man with a 52 against Namibia in an Intercontinental Shield match. 

Gavin Manders 

Tennis

He finished as the #1 ranked player in Bermuda, winning two local tournaments. Manders also represented the island at the CAC Games, Commonwealth Games and Davis Cup competition.

He also showed his versatility by qualifying for collegiate regionals in table tennis. 

Damien Matthews

Bowling

Won a bronze medal in 10 pin bowling. Matthews joined Commonwealth Games’ runner-ups Antoine Jones and Conrad Lister as the only Bermudian bowlers to medal at a major international games. Going into the final he was in fourth place, two pins behind fellow Bermudian Delmont Tucker. He ended up surpassing his teammate by four pins to earn the podium spot.

Matthews also won the Rendezvous Tournament a in February. 

Patrick Nisbett

Equestrian

Nisbett became the first Bermudian to represent the island in show jumping at the World Equestrian Games. 

Bermuda Equestrian Federation president Mike Cherry said he did exceptionally well with a very inexperienced horse at the competition. 

Nisbett also won the Lipica Grand Prix in Slovenia and had several top 10 performances as he competed around Europe. 

Ross Roberts 

Shooting

Won a bronze medal in the CAC Games in 50 metres shooting. He became the first Bermudian to win a medal in shooting at a major international games competition. 

Roberts scored 592 out of 600 to earn a spot in the finals, where just two points separated first from third. 

He also represented Bermuda at the Commonwealth Games. 

Tyrone Smith

Athletics

Smith won a gold medal at the CAC Games in the long jump with a leap of 8.22 metres and along the way set a new Bermuda record. Smith’s leap was 0.14 metres further than his previous best. 

Previously, Bermuda had won only one other gold medal at the CAC Games.

James Stout 

Racquets

He easily retained his World title — something he’s held since 2008 — by beating former champion Harry Foster 5 to 1 in the two-leg final. 

He swept Foster 4-0 in the first leg and needed just one game in the second to retain the title.

The New York Racquets and Tennis club pro also won the U.S Open title. In the process he didn’t drop a game and only twice did an opponent score as many as 10 points against him.