The sun shone brightly on Team Scotland as the medal count continued to rise. It was the first official day of competition in the pool, whilst the boccia players competed in teams, pairs and individuals for the first time. The athletes continued to flourish on the track and in the field with many personal bests achieved.
In the team competition Scotland were paired with Canada, who played against a very strong Canadian team in their first match and a Thailand/Portugal team in their final match. They were defeated 7-1 by the Canadians and 14-1 by Thailand/Portugal.
Sean McCann paired up with Canada’s Jennica Gagne to compete gainst other assembled pairs from the rest of the competitors. It provided an excellent opportunity for Sean to play in this format against a variety of players from around the world.
The Individuals event started today with Reegan Stevenson first up and was unfortunate to meet a Thai opponent in scintillating form. Callum Glasgow ultimately ended up on the wrong side of an incredibly close-fought match against his Canadian opponent whilst Sean McCann won an even closer match versus his South African opponent, Elaanza Jordaan. The second round of matches saw an upturn in fortune for Callum who claimed a victory against local favourite Nando Diedhiou. Sean saw a 5-4 lead after three ends evaporate as Andrea Gimenez ultimately claimed an overall 8-5 win. The three Scots will complete their fixtures tomorrow ass the event draws to a close.
And now to the pool where hopes were high for the Scottish team as they had been training hard under the watchful eye of Head Coach Jen Quinton. Erin Swann was in imperious form and swam personal bests in all three of her events coming within 1% of a gold medal in the 400m Freestyle event.
In a hugely competitive field Rhys Gill swam personal best times in three out of his four races which saw an immediate reward with a bronze in the 200m Individual Medley which included an incredible ten second PB.
Kyle Hughes had the most successful outing of all the swimming Scots by securing a bronze and silver medal for his efforts in the 100m Breaststroke and the 50m Freestyle, which also saw Isaac Dunning claim a Bronze to ensure the podium was bedecked in the Saltire. Isaac added another bronze to his haul in the 100m Breaststroke to make it an incredible first day of competition in the pool for Team Scotland.
On Day 2 of the athletics event Team Scotland continued to produce medal-winning performances following on from yesterday’s success. Up first was Shelby Watson in the T33 1500m final where she cruised to victory to ensure Flower of Scotland would be played at least once.
On the field Kirsty Soutar made her CP World Games debut in F32 discus. She performed well to finish in third place but unfortunately no bronze medal was awarded due to the minus one rule in place.
Connaire McAlindon was in action in the F37 discus. He got over yesterday’s disappointment to throw a 2m PB and finish in 6th position.
The evening session kicked off with Nathan Blackie claiming silver in the T34 200m. Five minutes later Shelby Watson won her fourth Gold of the games in the T33 200m. In T37 200m men’s final Lewis Clow was in confident mood following a PB in his heat. He started well and coming down the home straight got himself into 3rd place, unfortunately he stumbled 10m from the line to shatter his hopes of a medal position.
Next up was the women’s T37 200m final and Abbie McInally delivered another stunning performance to bring home another Gold for Team Scotland. The 200m events were rounded off with Ross ‘the Scottish Rocket’ Paterson in the T38 men’s final. Ross was ranked fourth after the heats started well and in the home straight lived up to his name as he stormed over the line in bronze medal position.
In the T34 800m Nathan Blackie looked comfortable in his first lap, and in the back straight was in second position. Nathan headed down the home straight battling to keep ahead but was overtaken on the line to take a respectable bronze medal.
Last but certainly not least, Graham Condie was outstanding in the throwing cage. First to throw he had a long wait to be declared champion. A phenomenal performance and personal best ensured the day was rounded off with Flower of Scotland.
Looking forward to the final day of competition with athletes from all three sports in action.