The nominated team of 12, contains seven players who played in the Edinburgh leg of the 2010 IRB Sevens World Series at the end of May, finishing 5th, and an additional two players who played in the team which achieved back to back semi-final places in London and Edinburgh in the 2009 Tournament. All the nominated players have previously played in successful Scotland 7s teams including one who played in the 2006 Commonwealth Games. There are six Scotland A caps in the squad and one full Scotland internationalist.
Based on both results from both the 2009 Rugby World Cup 7s and the IRB Sevens World Series during a three year period, CGS is satisfied that Scotland 7s has met the selection criteria, demonstrating the potential to finish in the top eight at the Commonwealth Games and that this has now been backed up with a squad of players capable of delivering such a result.
Rugby 7s is one of ten core sports at the Commonwealth Games and made its debut in Kuala Lumpur in 1998, but Manchester in 2002 was the first occasion Scotland entered a team. Now an approved Olympic Sport, included in the 2016 Games, 7s takes on an even greater significance as part of the Commonwealth Games.
In Delhi a total of 16 teams will compete for one gold medal. These teams include reigning Commonwealth Games gold medallists New Zealand, Rugby World Cup champions Wales and IRB Sevens World Series champions Samoa. Scotland will go into the Games seeded eighth by the IRB and will play in pool A, against defending Games champions and top seeds New Zealand, World Series regulars Canada and Caribbean champions Guyana, who also competed on the World Series this season in Las Vegas.
Congratulating the team, Michael Cavanagh, Chairman of Commonwealth Games Scotland said: “I am absolutely delighted to confirm Rugby 7s selection for Team Scotland at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Since their first inclusion in 2002 they have always added a fantastic and unique dimension to the overall team and I am sure this year will be no exception. We are confident that with the squad of players the SRU has nominated, Scotland 7s can compete strongly, despite the challenging opposition they face in pool A. We welcome all the players to Team Scotland and wish them all the best with their final preparations for the competition which gets underway exactly two months today.”
Jon Doig, Team Scotland Chef de Mission added: “The Rugby 7s team has played a strong part in the development of our ‘seventeen sports, one team’ ethos and we know other team members selected look forward to their inclusion in Delhi. Their preparation over the last year has focused on the Games and they are the only 7s team to conduct a site visit. We look forward to these preparations paying off in October.”
On behalf of Scotland 7s, Head Coach Stephen Gemmell said: “We are delighted that our participation in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi has been confirmed today.
”The Commonwealth Games is a major event on the world sporting calendar and Scottish Rugby and Scotland 7s are hugely honoured to be part of it.
“Our preparations will now start in earnest with a view to contributing to a successful Team Scotland in October.”
The Rugby 7s competition will take place on 11 & 12 October 2010 at Delhi University – North Campus.
Athlete Positions Age Lives
SQUAD
Mike Adamson, Scrum-half / Stand-off, 26, Glasgow G5
Alexander Blair, Stand-off, 19, Edinburgh EH5
David Callam, Forward, 27, Edinburgh EH3
Scott Forrest, Forward, 26, Glasgow G41
Chris Fusaro, Forward, 21, Glasgow G3
John Houston, Centre, 27, Edinburgh EH7
Lee Jones, Scrum-half/Winger, 22, Selkirk TD7
Stuart McInally, Forward, 20, Edinburgh EH10
Scott Newlands, Forward, 25, Edinburgh EH10
Hefin O’Hare, Centre/Winger, 31, Glasgow G11
Colin Shaw, Centre/Winger, 27, Glasgow G41
Andrew Turnbull, Winger, 28, Edinburgh EH11
RESERVES
Struan Dewar, Forward, 21, Edinburgh EH12
Peter Horne, Stand-off/Centre/Hooker, 20, Cupar KY15
James King, Stand-off/Centre, 24, Edinburgh EH6
Scott Riddell, Forward, 24, Newcastle upon Tyne NE6
Commonwealth Games Scotland (CGS) and Scottish Squash today announced the six players (four men and two women) selected to represent Team Scotland in the singles, doubles and mixed doubles events. This is the sixth Scottish sport competing in Delhi to have its athlete selections confirmed.
Squash is one of ten core sports at the Commonwealth Games and made its debut in 1998 in Kuala Lumpur. The 2010 squash competition will be held at the Siri Fort Sports Complex 4-13 October. There are a total of five gold medals to be contested in singles (men’s and women’s) and doubles (men’s, women’s and mixed). Singles events will involve a knockout draw, with the best two players progressing to the gold medal match. The doubles competition involves a round robin with successful teams qualifying for the knockout medal rounds.
Two of the players named today, Harry Leitch and Frania Gillen-Buchert were in the 2006 Scottish team and will be keen to build on their Commonwealth Games experience. Whilst all six players were in Scotland’s 2010 European Championship team that finished 7th.
25 year old Harry Leitch from Edinburgh will team up in the men’s doubles with Scottish number one Alan Clyne, 24, from Munlochy near Inverness. 21 year old Lyall Paterson a squash professional based in Philadelphia, USA will partner Chris Small, who is a squash coach in Florence, Italy.
Frania Gillen-Buchert from Edinburgh will play with Lisa Aitken of Montrose in the women’s doubles and with Clyne in the mixed whilst Lisa will join Leitch in the mixed doubles.
Amongst the biggest challenges to selection for squash has been the lack of international doubles competitions through which to qualify. Scottish Squash has gone to great lengths to gain suitable competition, with Head Coach Roger Flynn organising an international invitational doubles tournament in Manchester to test our athletes against the best in the Commonwealth. The tournament held in March attracted strong support from the major Commonwealth Games countries including Australia, Malaysia, India, Wales, England and Scotland, with the glittering entry list included most of the best singles players in the world including World Nos.1, 2, 4 and 10. It gave Scottish players the perfect opportunity to pitch themselves against top level opposition with some considerable success, notably Clyne and Leitch finishing fourth in the men’s doubles.
Congratulating the team, Michael Cavanagh, Chairman of Commonwealth Games Scotland said: “I am absolutely delighted that squash has qualified six athletes for Delhi and I would like to welcome them all to Team Scotland. They have gone the extra mile to earn their places on the team and I hope that they now can focus over these next two months on their final preparations that will put them in the best possible shape for the Games.”
Jon Doig, Team Scotland Chef de Mission added: “All six players can feel rightly proud of their achievement in being selected for Team Scotland. This is the first step to achieving their goals in Delhi and all the support staff look forward to ensuring they have every opportunity to excel at the Games.”
On behalf of Scottish Squash, Head Coach Roger Flynn said: “Scottish squash players have a long tradition of success in the sport and this team, with its mixture of experience and youth, has demonstrated that they have the ingredients to take on the best squash playing nations in the world. We are particularly targeting the doubles competitions where we believe that the playing field is very level and that we have the best chance of medalling.”
Athlete Events Age Lives
Alan Clyne, Singles, Men’s Doubles, Mixed Doubles, 24yrs, Born Munlochy, Black Isle, lives Edinburgh EH11 3AL
Harry Leitch, Singles, Men’s Doubles, Mixed Doubles, 25yrs, Born Edinburgh, lives Cambridge CB3 0DG
Lyall Paterson, Singles, Men’s Doubles, 21yrs, Born Aberdeen, lives Philadelphia, USA
Chris Small, Singles, Men’s Doubles, 32yrs, Born Dunfermline, lives Florence, Italy
Lisa Aitken, Singles, Women’s Doubles, Mixed Doubles, 20yrs, Born, Montrose, lives Edinburgh EH11 1GW
Frania Gillen-Buchert, Singles, Women’s Doubles, Mixed Doubles, 28yrs, Born Cape Town South Africa, lives Edinburgh EH14
Squash Team Leader, Linda Davie, 59yrs, Macclesfield
Head Coach, Roger Flynn, 56yrs, Edinburgh EH14 5RU
With the finals of the Scottish National Championships at Northfield completed last weekend, thoughts are now turning to the Commonwealth Games in October. Commonwealth Games Scotland (CGS), the Scottish Bowling Association and the Scottish Women’s Bowling Association today announced the 12 players selected to represent Team Scotland in the singles, pairs and triples events at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
Lawn bowls is one of 10 core sports at the Commonwealth Games for men and women and has been included in every Games programme with the exception of Kingston, Jamaica in 1966. Since 1970 Scotland has won at least one medal at every Games (totalling 9 gold, 4 silver and 4 bronze) and they will be hoping to continue their winning streak.
This year’s competition will unusually be held outdoors on a synthetic surface, more akin to the indoor version of the game, although these green are playing much slower, which will present some challenges for all the bowlers. Most of the players selected today participated in the official test event at the Games venue in Delhi in April. They were supported by high performance experts from the sportscotland institute of sport, taking part in a range of physiological testing, which aims to ensure they will be in the best possible shape for the hot conditions they will experience at the Games.
Keen to win back to back gold will be Paul Foster from Troon, who took gold in the pairs in 2006 with Alex Marshall. This year he will go it alone in the singles and wwould love to savor further Commonwealth Games success. The 37-year-old was confirmed as world number one in April at the end of a vintage indoor season which saw him win a host of tournaments on the World Bowls Tour – including the Scottish International Open. Foster is now setting his sights on outdoor domination, but knows he must learn to adapt and combine his indoor and outdoor techniques if he is going to conquer the artificial surface which challenged him at the Eight Nations test event, where he won bronze.
The legendary Willie Wood from Haddington, will be making a record eighth Commonwealth Games appearance when he steps out onto the rink in Delhi at the remarkable age of 72, which will also make him the oldest competitor in Team Scotland 2010. No other athlete in any sport has matched this significant milestone. He first represented Scotland at the Games in 1974 and has only missed 1986 when the Games were in Edinburgh and the last Games in Melbourne in 2006. So far, over seven Commonwealth Games he has won four medals, two gold, one silver and one bronze and there is no doubt about his appetite for further success. Wood joins fellow 2008 triples world champions David Peacock and Wayne Hogg. Wood also won the World Championship triples with Peacock in 2004.
Margaret Letham will team up with Caroline Brown in the pairs for what will be her fourth Commonwealth Games campaign. She last savoured success in 1998 when she won pairs gold with Joyce Lindores. In Delhi in April, this new Games pairing won bronze.
24 year old Michelle Cooper from Kilwinning is the youngest member of the squad and will join forces with Lorraine Malloy and Lynn Stein in the triples. Michelle was a member of the 2004 Commonwealth Youth Games team which won a team silver medal when lawn bowls appeared on the Youth Games programme for the first time and only time so far.
Congratulating the team, Michael Cavanagh, Chairman of Commonwealth Games Scotland said: “Lawn bowls has a strong tradition of success at the Commonwealth Games and I am confident that these 12 players will do Team Scotland proud once again, in Delhi. They have truly earned their places on the team and I hope that they now can focus over these next two months on their final preparations that will put them in the best possible shape for the Games.”
Jon Doig, Team Scotland Chef de Mission added: “All 12 players can feel rightly proud of their achievement in being selected for Team Scotland. This is the first step to achieving their goals in Delhi and all the support staff look forward to working with them and ensuring they have every opportunity to excel at the Games.”
On behalf of the Scottish Bowling Association, Team Leader for Men’s Bowls George Sneddon said, “Our selected bowlers have a wealth of experience of competing at the highest level of the game and with a number of multiple medallists within the team we are confident they will play their part in another successful Games for Scotland.”
Betty Forsyth, Woman’s Team Leader added: “I would like to congratulate the team on their selection. I believe they have the capability to blend together well and will support each other in their quest to win medals in all disciplines for Team Scotland.”
The lawn bowls competition will be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru (JN) Sports Complex from 4-13 October 2010.
Athlete Events Age Lives
Claire Johnston, singles, 31, Auchinleck, East Ayrshire KA18
Caroline Brown, pairs, 30, Motherwell, North Lanarkshire ML1
Margaret Letham, pairs, 54, Bothwell, South Lanarkshire G71
Michelle Cooper, triples, 24, Kilwinning, Ayrshire KA13
Lorraine Malloy, triples, 34, East Whitburn, West Lothian EH47
Lynn Stein, triples, 42, Leven, Fife KY8
Paul Foster, singles, 37, Troon, Ayrshire KA10
Darren Burnett, pairs, 34, Arbroath, Angus DD11
Neil Speirs, pairs, 31, Ratho, West Lothian EH28
David Peacock, triples, 40, Dalkeith, Midlothian EH22
Wayne Hogg, triples, 30, Glenrothes KY7
Willie Wood, triples, 72, Haddington, East Lothian EH41
Betty Forsyth, Women’s Bowls Team Leader, 65, Larkhall, South Lanarkshire ML9
George Sneddon, Men’s Bowls Team Leader, 60, Broxburn, West Lothian EH52
Ceri Ann Davies, Head Coach, 31, Stirling, FK9
Robbie Dobbins, Coach, 69, Australia
Commonwealth Games Scotland (CGS) and Table Tennis Scotland today confirmed that they would be sending a men’s team to participate in the 2010 Commonwealth Games and announced the three players selected to represent Team Scotland in the singles, doubles and team events. This is the third of 16 sports competing in Delhi to have its athlete selections confirmed.
Table Tennis is an optional sport in the Commonwealth Games and first appeared on the programme in Manchester 2002. Whilst Scotland participated in table tennis in Manchester, there was huge disappointment when they subsequently failed to qualify for Melbourne in 2006. The sport has gone to great lengths to ensure they have players on the team for Delhi and put much of their success down to the impact their national coach Li Chao from China has made over the last 18 months.
26 year old Gavin Rumgay, the six time Scottish champion and British number two from Perth, has been in good form this season, beating the British number one, Paul Drinkhall, in their last two meetings starting at the Wolverhampton Grand Prix in May where he secured the 18th British Grand Prix title of his career. However it was this latest win against Drinkhall at the World Team Championships in Moscow in April, along with some other significant wins in the same tournament, that saw Gavin make a meteoric rise thirty places up the world rankings and secure his Commonwealth Games spot. Gavin lives and trains in England and is aiming for selection in the GB team for London 2012.
He will be joined in Delhi by 34 year old Stewart Crawford from Falkirk who was also part of the team in Manchester and up and coming youngster Craig Howieson from Edinburgh. 20 year old Craig, the Scottish number two, has already had a taste of India when he represented Scotland at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune 2008 and will be confident of building on the experience.
Congratulating the team, Michael Cavanagh, Chairman of Commonwealth Games Scotland said: “I am absolutely delighted that table tennis has qualified for Delhi and I would like to welcome Gavin, Craig and Stewart to Team Scotland. They have truly earned their places on the team and I hope that they now can focus over these next two months on their final preparations that will put them in the best possible shape for the Games.”
Jon Doig, Team Scotland Chef de Mission added: “All three players can feel rightly proud of their achievement in being selected for Team Scotland. This is the first step to achieving their goals in Delhi and all the support staff look forward to ensuring they have every opportunity to excel at the Games.”
On behalf of Table Tennis Scotland, Team Leader Tricia Whitaker said: “I am delighted that the team have qualified for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi after a lot of hard work and dedication from the TTS National Performance Team. I would like to congratulate the players and coaching team led by our Performance Director Peter Stewart, on their achievement and wish them every success in Delhi in October.”
The table tennis competition will be held at the Yamuna Sports Complex 4-14 October 2010.
Athlete Events Age Lives
Stewart Crawford, Singles & Team, 34yrs, Falkirk FK2
Craig Howieson, Singles, Doubles & Team, 20yrs, Edinburgh EH10
Gavin Rumgay, Singles, Doubles & Team, 26yrs, Perth PH1/Sheffield
Table Tennis Team Leader, Tricia Whitaker, Perth PH1
Head Coach, Li Chao, Glasgow G12
Commonwealth Games Scotland (CGS) and the Scottish Swimming today announced the 21 swimmers (11 men and 10 women) selected to represent Team Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in October. This is the second of the 16 sports competing in Delhi to have its athlete selections confirmed.
Swimming is one of the most exciting and competitive sports in the Commonwealth Games, with more nations competing than in any other sport except athletics. The last Games in Melbourne in 2006 was the most successful Games ever for swimming, winning 12 medals including six gold. With a lot of the Scottish team at their competitive peak, there were many, truly exceptional performances. Prior to that, swimming has won an average of four medals at each previous Games. This year’s team is an exciting blend of youth and experience and reflects the rebuilding phase of the sport towards Glasgow 2014.
Amongst those named today are David Carry and Caitlin McClatchey both double gold medallist from Melbourne who set the Scotland team alight, both winning gold on the first day of the competition, beating the home favourites Australia in their own back yard. Also part of the 2006 swim team were Robbie Renwick, Kris Gilchrist and Andy Hunter who all won relay medals and will be looking to repeat their medal winning performances in Delhi.
Inverurie’s Hannah Miley made her Commonwealth Games debut in 2006 at just 16 years old, where she finished an impressive 4th in her favoured 400m individual medley. Hannah has gone from strength to strength since then and is now a force on the international swimming scene. She has broken numerous Scottish, British and Commonwealth records along the way, as well as the European record for both the 200m and 400m IM which had stood for over eight years. At 4:31.33 Hannah’s best 400m IM time is now a staggering 16.62 seconds faster than her final swim in Melbourne and she is currently world ranked number four in this event.
Kerry Buchan also made her Commonwealth debut in Melbourne and was a gold and silver medallist from the 2004 Commonwealth Youth Games.
Amongst the 14 rookies on the team Lewis Smith and Louise Pate were also medallists at the 2004 Commonwealth Youth Games, whilst 17 year old Cameron Brodie put in an outstanding performance at the European Junior Championships in Helsinki earlier this month to qualify at the last meet of the qualification period. 2010 European Junior team mate Sara Hamilton has also been selected as part of the 4x100m freestyle relay team.
Beijing Paralympian, Sean Fraser will be Scotland’s sole representative in the Para- Sports events in the pool, whilst 27 year old Lauren Smith, based as part of the British programme in Aldershot, qualifies in the synchronised swimming – solo event.
Congratulating the team, Michael Cavanagh, Chairman of Commonwealth Games Scotland said: “I am absolutely delighted to welcome the 21 athletes to Team Scotland. The swimmers got us off to a fantastic start in Melbourne and I am sure this exciting combination of familiar and new faces can rise to the challenge and perform to their very best in Delhi. With their selection confirmed, I hope they can now focus over these next two months on their final preparations that will put them in the best possible shape for the Games.”
Jon Doig, Team Scotland Chef de Mission added: “All the swimmers can feel rightly proud that they have been named as part of Team Scotland. This is the first step to achieving their goals in Delhi and all the support staff look forward to ensuring they have every opportunity to excel at the Games.”
Scottish Swimming, Chief Executive Officer, Ashley Howard said: “Scottish Swimming is delighted for the athletes selected for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi. The team reflects a true blend of senior and youth swimmers – precisely the mixture we were aiming for as we take a long term view and prepare for success in Glasgow in 2014. We are confident we have selected a strong group of swimmers who are all up for the challenge of this major competition.
“Undoubtedly medals will be hard to come by, with the margins between those who win medals and those who don’t getting even smaller. Our overall target for Delhi is six medals, five in swimming and one from diving or synchro, which is a tall order at what will be a very challenging Games. However, we believe we have the right team in place with the best opportunity to deliver against our Delhi target and Scottish Swimming wishes the team well in their final preparations.”
Ally Whike, Scottish Swimming’s Director of Performance added: “We are very proud of the swimmers who have achieved selection for Team Scotland and we look forward to having everyone together in Doha for a holding camp in September prior to travelling onwards to Delhi. We are also delighted for the coaches who have played such a pivotal leadership role in supporting their athletes’ selection success.
Over the last 10 years, with investment from our key partner, sportscotland, we have been able to support a strong coaching pathway in Scotland. Our nation now boasts of 25 full time paid swimming coaches and is underpinned by a strong coach education and mentoring philosophy. It is our coaches and this coaching pathway which we believe will deliver sustained success for swimming in Scotland, with our long term sights set on success in Glasgow, 2014 and beyond.”
Eight of the Scottish swimmers selected today will soon head off to Budapest for the European Championships 4-15 August and will benefit from racing against some high level competition, the ideal warm-up for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
Selections for diving are still to be confirmed and will be announced on 18 August 2010.
Athlete, Age, Lives, Events Qualified In
Kerry Buchan, 23, Edinburgh, 100m, 200m breaststroke, 4×100 medley relay
Lucy Ellis, 17, Dalgety Bay, 100m freestyle, 100 &200m freestyle relays
Megan Gilchrist , 20, Whitburn, 800m free, 4x200m freestyle relay
Sara Hamilton, 15, Stonehaven, 4x100m freestyle relay
Kathryn Johnstone, 20,Cowdenbeath, 50m breaststroke
Louise Pate, 21, Edinburgh, 4x100m medley relay
Caitlin McClatchey, 24, Loughborough, 200m freestyle, 100 &200m freestyle & medley relays
Hannah Miley, 20, Inverurie, 200m free, 200m breast, 200m & 400m IM, all three relays
Corrie Scott, 16, Strathaven, 50m breaststroke
Lauren Smith, 27, Aldershot, syncronised swimming – solo
Cameron Brodie, 17, Aberdeen, 200m butterfly
David Carry, 28, Stockport/Aberdeen, 200m & 400m freestyle, medley&200m freestyle relay,
Sean Fraser, 20, Edinburgh, Para Sport S8 100m freestyle
Kristopher Gilchrist, 26, Paris/Edinburgh,100m & 200m breaststroke, 4x100m medley relay
Andrew Hunter, 24, Stirling, 4x200m freestyle relay
Michael Jamieson, 22, Bath/Edinburgh, 100m & 200m breaststroke
Andrew Mayor, 24, Newcastle/Dumfries, 200m butterfly, 4x100m medley relay
Craig McNally, 17, Edinburgh, 4x100m medley relay
Robbie Renwick, 22,Glasgow/Aberdeen, 200m & 400m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle relay
Jak Scott, 19, Bo’ness, 4x200freestyle relay
Lewis Smith, 22, Stirling, 400m freestyle, 200m & 400m individual medley
N.B. All athletes are selected subject to ongoing form and fitness.
The last and only other time that archery was included in the Commonwealth Games was in Brisbane in 1982 although two Commonwealth Championships have been held. Both of these took place in India, the first in 1993 and the second in November 2006 after which archery was added to the 2010 Games programme.
In the archery competition at the Games there will be a maximum of three entries per country in each of the two individual events (recurve and compound) for men and women as well as team competitions in each, with a team being made up of three archers. To increase its spectator and media appeal the sport has changed its competition structure over recent years to a knockout format.
Scottish Archery has been extremely excited about their inclusion in the Games and has gone to great lengths to ensure they are ready to take advantage of the opportunity, including attending both the last Commonwealth Championships and the Games test event in Delhi in February 2010.
Whilst all new to Commonwealth Games competition, Montrose’s Simon Needham has major Games experience, having competed in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney as well as European and World Championships for Great Britain. At 27 Emma Downie, originally from Fraserburgh is the youngest member of the team and was the winner of the 2009 British Target Championships in recurve.
Congratulating the team, Michael Cavanagh, Chairman of Commonwealth Games Scotland said: “We are delighted to welcome all 10 archers to Team Scotland and I hope they are looking forward to what will be a new competition experience for them as part of a multi-sport team at the Commonwealth Games. They have truly earned their places on the team and I hope that they now can focus over these next two months on their final preparations that will put them in the best possible shape for the Games.”
Jon Doig, Team Scotland Chef de Mission added: “All 10 archers can feel rightly proud of their achievement in being selected for Team Scotland. This is the first step to achieving their goals in Delhi and all the support staff look forward to working with them and ensuring they have every opportunity to excel at the Games.”
On behalf of Scottish Archery, Bob Provan, Sport Team Leader said: “All the athletes are both excited and proud to be representing their country. They have all worked very hard over the last two years, under the guidance of Head Coach Lana Needham, to reach this point, but they realise that there is still a distance to go. The support they have had from the sportscotland institute of sport has also helped to make this possible. The team’s work and commitment has raised the bar in Scottish Archery and set an example for all Scottish archers hoping to compete at this level in the future.”
The archery competition will be held at the Yamuna Sports Complex from 4-10 October 2010.
Athlete Events Age Lives
Emma Downie, Recurve – individual, 27, Wolverhampton
Claudine Jennings, Compound – individual & team, 30 Edinburgh, EH7
Susan Maitland, Compound – individual & team, 53, Penicuick, Midlothian EH26
Tracey McGowan, Compound – individual & team, 38 Tadcaster, North Yorkshire
Mark Forrester, Recurve – individual & team, 37, Harpenden, Hertfordshire
James Laing, Recurve – individual & team, 48, Laurencekirk, Aberdeenshire AB30
Simon Needham, Recurve – individual & team, 50, Montrose, Angus DD10
Kyle Dods, Compound – individual & team, 36, Oban, Argyll & Bute PA34
Tim Keppie, Compound – individual & team, 28, Newcastle-under-Lyme
Alastair Whittingham, Compound – individual & team, 37, Edinburgh, EH7
Bob Provan, Archery Team Leader, 57, Montrose, Angus DD10
Lana Needham, Head Coach, 43, Montrose Angus DD10
With the Delhi selection period for sports drawing to a close and the Team Scotland announcement due on 18 August, Commonwealth Games Scotland is working with our agent Traveleads and Emirates to provide travel and accommodation options for Delhi for athletes’ friends and family. Details can be accessed on the Traveleads website
Tickets for sports events can be ordered through the Delhi 2010 Games site
Encouraged by her sister Iona to tag along with her to their local athletics club Pitreavie, primary school pupil Eilidh Child soon found her competitive streak and quickly left her sister and many others trailing in her wake. Such was her enthusiasm she even resorted to setting up homemade hurdles on her driveway with cones and garden canes used to hone her technique. Since then Eilidh has not looked back and has progressed steadily through from junior to senior international ranks and is now Scotland’s leading 400m hurdler.
Over the last two seasons Eilidh has achieved no less than 13 qualification times for selection for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October, a quite remarkable feat. And to top that further, in Poland last month she broke the Scottish 400m hurdles record in a time of 55.17s to win the race and replace Sinead Dudgeon’s 11 year old record of 55.24s and secured her place on the Great Britain team for the European Championships in Barcelona later this month.
These significant achievements have resulted in her being named as the Clydesdale Bank Athlete of the Month for June, jointly with badminton player Susan Egelstaff, and she has received £500 towards her training and competition costs. The scheme, being run by Commonwealth Games Scotland in conjunction with Clydesdale Bank as part of its programme of support to Team Scotland, is open to athletes in any of the 17 participating sports who are eligible to represent Scotland at this year’s Games in Delhi.
On hearing the news, the 23 year old from Kinross said: “It is really rewarding to be recognised in this way. Family and friends are always aware of what I am achieving, but it is really nice when others outside your support network recognise what you’ve done and a big thank you to Clydesdale Bank for this award.”
Eilidh is quite clear about ‘what’ and ‘who’ has helped her make such a massive break-through onto the senior international stage this last two years.
“I switched coach at the end of the 2008 season and teamed up with Stuart Hogg. He upped my training and made it much more specific to me and increased the intensity of it. Firstly he got me in much better shape, improving my general fitness. He also helped me work on my speed. I have always been strong and had good endurance which is vital for my event, but I didn’t have great speed. This is what we have been working on and it has made a huge difference.”
“The money from Clydesdale Bank will go towards travel to more races abroad and to help fund my coach to travel too. It makes such a difference to have my coach with me at a meet. He provides reassurance and keeps me calm or gees me up depending on how I am feeling. At a practical level he helps to get the equipment out and helps me with my drills.”
Eilidh has stuck to her roots and still trains at Pitreavie Athletic Centre in Dunfermline six times a week, with two weights sessions in the gym and the rest on the track. She also benefits from the high performance expertise of the sportscotland institute network. Explaining she said: “I get brilliant support from Tayside & Fife institute of sport. They provide me with access to regular physiotherapy and the doctor does blood tests to make sure I am healthy. A nutritionist also works with me. This means that my life is so much easier and that all I need to worry about is training and they look after everything else. They also give great support to my coach too.”
The Athlete of the Month award is a timely boost to Eilidh’s preparations as she heads out to Portugal for warm weather training in advance of the European Championships in Barcelona, where she is aiming to make the finals and demonstrate she has established herself amongst the top flight of European athletics. With her new found confidence and fitness who would bet against her. Her family will be there in force and sister Iona will be the first to remind Eilidh that it was her who put her on the road to international success.
After a short rest it will then be back to refocusing and making her final training and preparation for Delhi and what will be the culmination of an unusually long season for track and field athletes. Looking forward to Delhi she said: “It would be fabulous to represent Scotland in a multi-sport event. I am sure there will be a great vibe amongst the Scottish team and I am really looking forward to it.”
Wherever Eilidh goes this season she is certainly benefiting from a superb support network in her family, her coach and the institute experts. She also benefits from support from Perth & Kinross Council who allow her to work just part time as a PE teacher, to enable her to fit in her training. This means she also has a school full of young supporters keen to cheer her on and take inspiration from all her achievements.
Road cyclist David Millar was in Edinburgh in June to spread the anti-doping message to young Scottish athletes. Millar had his eligibility for selection confirmed last December by Commonwealth Games Scotland to represent them at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, subject to him meeting the necessary performance selection criteria. He was also asked to demonstrate his commitment to anti-doping education in Scotland.
This decision came on the back of an application from Millar to be given eligibility for selection following a successful return to the sport in 2006 after serving a two year ban for a doping offence. His application was supported by the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) and the international cycling federation (UCI).
David, who now competes for the USA based Garmin-Transitions team, is fully aware of his responsibility to educate the media, public and other athletes about the world of doping. David works closely with UK Anti Doping, British Cycling, UCI and WADA in the area of anti-doping and is proving to be a valuable asset. He was nominated to the WADA Athlete’s Committee in 2007 by UK Sport as the British representative, contributing to the development of British Cycling, UK Sport and SPORT WADA anti-doping policies and programmes and demonstrating his commitment to making a difference in the world of sport.
Speaking to Scottish athletes and officials, Millar said: “There are very few sports people out there who realise they are good and then think I can’t wait to start doping. The people we need to approach are those on the fringe of international success, that’s when it starts to get a little more complicated, when the lines start to get blurred and you start leaving your close knit family group and long term coaches. That’s the grey area. That’s the people I’d like them to hear it from, the elite level sportsmen saying that it is possible to do it clean.
“Even in my amateur team I didn’t know there was doping going on. I was completely naive and oblivious to what was happening around me. When you are a young athlete doping doesn’t come into your mind and it’s not something you should have to encounter. You have the right as a young athlete to be idealistic and to believe everything is possible and there is right and wrong, black and white.
“The moment you start to lose track of those is the moment where you have to have people around you to support you. When I was in France these lines were completely black and white and there was right and wrong, people who cheated and people who didn’t. When I turned professional this all got thrown around.
“I made mistakes as a younger athlete in a dirty sport, and I will have to live with those mistakes for the rest of my life, but I have changed and if the example I now give and education I provide can prevent a younger version of me from making the same mistakes I made than I could not ask for more.”
Looking towards the Delhi Games he added: “Competing for Scotland means a lot. It’s more of an emotional thing than anything else and as my career has gone on it has come home to me how important this is. It’s been a fairly tumultuous few years and the fact that I am being welcomed back into the team is a wonderful feeling.
“It would be massive for me to do well in Delhi for many reasons. My team are behind me, which is good. I’ll be racing Bradley (Wiggins) which is good. There is already a strong rivalry going and now it will be Scotland v England. I know he’s targeting the time trial as well so it will be full on.
“The time trial is the No1 priority with the road race. But I hear it is pretty flat so that is going to make it a bit of an interesting race because it will be a sprinter’s race. There are so many more variables in the road race so I’d rather hedge my best in the time trial and work towards that. I’ll take the road race as it comes.”
Whilst David has now met the required performance selection criteria for a number of the cycling events in Delhi, his confirmation as a member of Team Scotland for Delhi 2010 is still to be formally considered and ratified along with all the other cycling nominations by CGS in August.
With the Commonwealth Games in Delhi only 70 days away, Commonwealth Games Scotland (CGS) and the Scottish Wrestling Association today announced the 10 wrestlers (three men and seven women) selected to represent Team Scotland at the Games in October. This is the first of 16 sports competing in Delhi to have its athlete selections confirmed.
One of the original six sports included in the first Games in 1930, wrestling is now an optional sport and was last in the Games at Manchester in 2002, and it will also be in Glasgow in 2014.
Wrestling is a hugely popular sport in India and one in which the hosts have targeted significant medal success. Such is the level of interest in the sport that the Scots selected today can expect to compete in front of 5,000 capacity crowds at every session, which will take place at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex 5-10 October 2010.
Women’s wrestling will also be making its debut in Delhi and CGS is particularly delighted to have female entries in all seven weight categories a remarkable feat given that there was no women’s performance programme in Scotland until 18 months ago.
This has come about as a result of a sportscotland backed talent transfer initiative led by Scottish Wrestling, which saw judo athletes take up the sport. Five of the seven women selected today came from judo, having enjoyed considerable success in that sport, but with judo omitted from the Commonwealth Games programme in both Melbourne and Delhi, there was a clear incentive to switch. Twins, Donna and Fiona Robertson both have Commonwealth Games bronze medals in judo from the 1990 Games in Auckland and the 2002 Games in Manchester respectively.
The Scottish performance squad have mat sessions on six days each week at Palace of Art in Glasgow, overseen by national coach, Volodymyr Gladkov from Ukraine. This is complemented by three weekly strength and conditioning training sessions, provided as part of a support services package from the sportscotland institute of sport network.
The majority of the team visited Jalandahar in India in December last year to take part in the Commonwealth Championships, the official test event for the Commonwealth Games. They enjoyed their most successful ever Commonwealth Championships, winning five medals and hope this augurs well for Delhi in October.
Congratulating the team, Michael Cavanagh, Chairman of Commonwealth Games Scotland said: “I am absolutely delighted to welcome the 10 wrestlers to Team Scotland. They have truly earned their places on the team and I hope that they now can focus over these next two months on their final preparations that will put them in the best possible shape to excel at the Games.”
Jon Doig, Team Scotland Chef de Mission added: “All the wrestlers can feel rightly proud that they are our first athletes named in Team Scotland. This is the first step to achieving their goals in Delhi and all the support staff look forward to ensuring they have every opportunity to excel at the Games.”
On behalf of Scottish Wrestling, Team Leader John Keogh said: “I am extremely proud of the team selected for Delhi. It is a fabulous achievement to have ten wrestlers qualify and is testament to all their hard work. The women in particular, most of whom transferred from judo only 18 months ago to now compete at the highest level in another sport, must be commended, along with our head coach Volodymyr Gladkov.”
The majority of the wrestling team now head to Romania on Monday to benefit from further training and international competition, then on to Ukraine as they make their final preparations for the Commonwealth Games.
Athlete Category Age Lives
Craig McKenna 55kg 19 Clydebank G81
Viorel Etko 60kg 32 Aberdeen
Sean Keogh 74kg 22 Glasgow G62
Fiona Robertson 48kg 41 Hamilton ML3
Donna Robertson 51kg 41 Hamilton ML3
Jayne Clason 55kg 25 Falkirk FK3
Kathryn Gallagher 59kg 26 Glasgow G44
Tracey Connell 63kg 24 Falkirk FK5
Ashlea McManus 67kg 27 Vancouver
Sarah Jones 72kg 27 Glasgow G12
Wrestling Team Leader – John KeoghGlasgow G62
Head Coach – Volodymyr Gladkov Glasgow G52
Coach – Colin Mclaren Alloa, FK10
COMMONWEALTH