As part of our Sport Focus on Beach Volleyball we take a look at two exciting projects using the sport as a tool to improve health and well-being, bring down barriers and develop young people’s skills in areas of deprivation.

Scotland is not known for the sunny, warm climate usually associated with Beach Volleyball and, in the build up to the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, Team Scotland’s players took matters into their own hands when their usual training site of Portobello beach froze over. With all hands on deck they built an indoor court in a barn to escape the weather and continue their preparation. Now the sand from the ‘Barn’ is being used to initiate a new project across the city of Edinburgh.

The ‘Sand for Schools’ project aims to use beach volleyball as a tool to support young people in a school setting into positive destinations in areas of deprivation. It will see the build of a 2-court beach volleyball facility at a high school in Edinburgh with governing body support to upskill young people as coaches and leaders within the sporting landscape. The project also aims to achieve wider social impact by providing community access to a local facility for sport and physical activity, in collaboration with Edinburgh Beach Volleyball Club, contributing to improved health and well-being of the local community and helping to close the gap in sports participation seen in areas of deprivation.

The Scottish Volleyball Association (SVA) look forward to completing this build and seeing the impact that it has on the local community. They also hope to roll it out in other parts of the country as part of a coordinated approach to improving the infrastructure for the sport and Changing Lives through Sport and Physical Activity.

In Portobello itself, Edinburgh Beach Volleyball Club (EBVC) is involved in a Community project called IGNITE which aims to inspire and support the ambition of young people and provide primary school pupils in an area of deprivation with the opportunity to try new sports with support to join their local club.

This project is led by the City of Edinburgh Council and Active Schools Edinburgh, with the SVA and EBVC as partners in the delivery of the sessions along with other sports.  The project aims to reduce the barriers that these pupils face when engaging with the wider community and opportunities to take part in sport and physical activity at their local community sports hub.

While Scotland’s top players set their sights on Birmingham 2022, these projects will leave a legacy for hundreds of young people for many years to come.

Gold Coast 2018 saw Beach Volleyball make its Commonwealth Games debut with Scottish pairs flying the flag in both men’s and women’s events. Two years ago today both Scottish teams were stepping out onto court on quarter-finals day and women’s pair Lynne Beattie and Mel Coutts take a trip down memory lane to their historic 5th place finish:

Lynne: My favourite memories from the Games include marching out as part of the army of Team Scotland athletes and staff into the Opening Ceremony arena, knowing you were part of something bigger than just your own team and sport.  The support you would get from fellow Team Scotland members in and around the holding camp, in the village, and throughout your competition was unbelievable.

My favourite memory however was stepping out onto court in the quarter-finals, against the World Number 1’s at the time, Canada, (eventual gold medallists) and leaving absolutely everything on court, soaking up the atmosphere of 4000 fans in such an iconic arena.  To get the opportunity to test yourselves against the best team in the world is one of the reasons you play sport.

Mel: Qualification was a long and rocky road, lots of ups and downs but totally worth it once we qualified. The build up to the Games in the Sunshine Coast was absolutely brilliant, especially being part of Team Scotland which was a wonderful novelty, and quite a change when you normally travel in a two, and suddenly to be part of a team of 300! Amazing.

Most memorable moment was walking out into the stadium for the first time. Fantastic experience. And we played in the hot sunshine and got our first win. Looking back, this experience has undoubtedly given us the hunger to push the boundaries of our team and our sport even further, but it has also been an experience that we have both learned so much from, that can only help us in achieving our goals going forward.

Lynne: Since the Gold Coast, we have been continuing to compete, both domestically on the Scottish and UK Beach Tour, as well as internationally on the World Tour, whilst pulling together a comprehensive campaign plan to qualify for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham 2022.  This has been a really exciting process to be a part of as we are able to use the learnings from Gold Coast to shape how this looks.  There may be a few changes to how this looks now, as a result of the current situation across the world, but we are adaptable and creative and so have confidence that we will be able to find solutions as we continue our journey to Birmingham 2022.

Mel: Now we prepare for 2022. Training and competing is obviously stalled at present due to coronavirus, but ‘staying at home’ makes me all the more motivated to get to the beach when it is safe to do so.

As a team, we have also been investing some time in supporting the development of our sport alongside the local Beach Volleyball Club; Edinburgh Beach Volleyball Club.  The club have been growing by the year and investment from sportscotland will allow us to grow our reach into local communities and get youngsters involved. The local community have been so supportive in achieving our goals and we want to give something back and ensure that more people can have the opportunity to play our amazing sport.

For our sport to appear on the world stage in two consecutive Commonwealth Games will be another historic achievement and hopefully continue the momentum we all started a few years ago to grow the sport in our country and pave the path for future generations of athletes and coaches to experience what we have had the honour to experience.

Qualifying for and competing at the Commonwealth Games was the culmination of a lot of hard work from, not just us as a team of athletes and coaches, but from our sport and governing body too.  Achieving the goal that we set out to achieve, made this hard work worthwhile and we really hope it has inspired others to believe in their goals and ambitions, whatever they may be; this was and still plays a big part in our purpose as a team.   We have always wanted to get Scottish Beach Volleyball on the world map and show people what is possible with commitment to your goals.

Celebrating exactly two years since Beach Volleyball made its Commonwealth Games debut at Gold Coast 2018, we spoke to Team Scotland pair Robin Miedzybrodzki and Seain Cook who had the honour of being the first Scots (just one hour ahead of women’s pair Lynne Beattie and Mel Coutts) to take to the sand and record a historic opening day win.

What did it mean to you and the sport to be included at Gold Coast 2018?

Seain: For the sport it continued to show that Beach Volleyball, although not nationally a large sport, internationally it is very popular. More personally it meant that I was able to compete at a high level again at Beach Volleyball and represent Scotland alongside one of the best players in Britain ever.

What are your memories of the Games?

Robin: I have so many incredible memories from the build up to the Games, the holding camp and also the Games themselves. The Games were the culmination of over a decade of focused work from Seain and I, both personally and as a team. I remember vividly the build up to the first game against Sri Lanka. There was a brilliant atmosphere at Coolangatta. The long walk to the court, standing in the holding pen with nerves reaching boiling point and then walking out onto the court with Seain and feeling immense pride and excitement for the match. Seain and I delivered an excellent performance in that match and we brought home the win for Team Scotland, which is a moment we will never forget.

How did it feel to step out onto court for the first time?

Seain: It felt right. We had waited a long time to be there, after winning our zonal qualifier in Cyprus we had a pretty gruelling preparation with some crazy hours for Robin and I. It felt amazing. I remember very specific moments leading up to being introduced onto court, being ready to compete with Robin and feeling very ready to start.

What was it like being part of Team Scotland?

Robin: This was a dream come true. The pride in the team was something I will never forget. The commitment to excellence and performance was superb across the sports and there was support throughout the team that was given to every single athlete, in every game, in every training session, from the moment we stepped on the plane to when we got home at the end of the Games.

Looking back two years on, what has the experience given you?

Seain: This is a tougher one. It has given me a bond with the team we had around us, we were very tight knit. I think above all it has given me a real hunger to compete again internationally and win tournaments and medals and show that volleyball in Scotland and Britain shouldn’t be looked at as just a grass roots sport, but as a high performance sport, so that younger athletes can have the inspiration to continue through the sport.

What have you been doing since Gold Coast?

Robin: Seain has been continuing his professional indoor career out in Holland and has been part of a very strong team out there who were on course to win many of the National competitions this year. However, due to the COVID-19 situation the season has been suspended and he has flown home and is currently staying in shape with home and garden workouts. Seain has a big plan to move over to the USA and play Beach Volleyball in America in the coming years with a continued drive to compete internationally for Scotland and Great Britain in the future.

I have taken a step back from the sport over the past two years following participation at Gold Coast to focus on my family and career. My 3rd daughter arrived in August 2019 so Sienna, Isabella and Indiana have been keeping me very busy. I have recently started a new role with Arcadis as Technical Director and remain committed to staying in shape and competing in various challenges like Spartan Beast and hopefully the upcoming Edinburgh Marathon. What the last 2 years has confirmed is that my soul needs the competitive outlet, and I do miss Seain, so we will see what the future holds.

Beach Volleyball is back on the programme for Birmingham 2022, is this in your plans?

Seain: Robin and I are both unsure, we haven’t been told how funding, if any, will be decided and shared across the high performance squads. I have continued to train and play at high levels while Robin, who is the fitter of us both, has been in training for a marathon and has been training with top teams in Scotland. So we are both prepared but waiting to see what the future holds.

What does it mean for the sport to have back to back appearances at the Games?

Robin: I am delighted to see Beach Volleyball in the Games for the second time and I hope that the support for the sport continues into the future. As with the Olympics, Beach Volleyball was one of the most popular sports at Gold Coast and it gave the sport the platform to showcase the athleticism, fitness, skill and tactics involved in such a dynamic sport. We all hope that this is the spring board for the sport to grow and also receive continued and improved funding support for performance and facilities that will help to improve the level of the game in Scotland. A medal in the Games is within reach on the back of the correct programme, which is an exciting prospect for the future.

As part of our ‘Celebrating Our Past, Building Our Future’ theme, each month, Team Scotland is putting one or two sports in the Sport Focus spotlight, which will feature all 25 sports in which Scotland has competed at the Commonwealth Games.

Look out for all things Beach Volleyball on Team Scotland’s website and social channels over the next couple of weeks and join us as we delve into the archives to uncover tales of past success and look ahead to the rising stars of Scottish sport.

Beach Volleyball at the Commonwealth Games

Beach Volleyball is an optional sport in the Commonwealth Games and made its debut at the Gold Coast 2018 Games in Australia. It made its Youth Games debut eight months earlier at 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games in the Bahamas. Beach Volleyball is back on the programme for the next Youth Games in Trinidad & Tobago and also at Birmingham 2022 where it will take place in a city centre location, bringing the sport to a new audience.

For Beach Volleyball’s debut at Gold Coast 2018, 12 team tournaments were held and Scotland qualified to compete in both men’s and women’s competitions, with four athletes selected for the Games.

Seain Cook, a professional volleyball player based in Holland and Robin Miedzybrodzki, a former British Champion successfully qualified for the men’s 12-team competition with an impressive win at the official European qualifying tournament in Cyprus. They were later joined by Edinburgh duo, Lynne Beattie and Melissa Coutts for the women.

Lynne had major Games experience having captained Team GB’s indoor volleyball team to ninth place at London 2012, whilst beach volleyball veteran Melissa Coutts was part of the first ever Scottish team to play and win on the World Tour and a three times British Champion.

The competition got underway on day two of the Games with the venue built on the stunning Coolangatta Beachfront, a stone’s throw away from Team Scotland’s ‘Schools Connect’ programme school, Coolangatta Primary. Both Scotland’s pairs acquitted themselves well, reaching the quarter finals.

Playing in Pool B, the men clocked up two early victories against Sri Lanka and Sierra Leone before losing to silver medallists Canada and eventually going out in the quarter finals against England. The women beat Grenada, but lost to both Cyprus and Australia in Pool A and also went out in the quarter finals, losing to eventual gold medal winners Canada.

Four nations won Beach Volleyball medals at Gold Coast 2018 with Australia and Canada taking one gold and one silver each, while New Zealand’s men and Vanuatu’s women took bronze.

Find out more about Beach Volleyball at the Commonwealth Games on our dedicated Beach Volleyball page.

Youth Games Success

Team Scotland’s first ever Beach Volleyball pair were Emma Waldie and Jennifer Lee, selected for the Bahamas 2017  Commonwealth Youth Games. Topping their pool with wins over Vanuatu and Jamaica, Emma and Jennifer breezed past hosts Bahamas in the quarter-finals before just losing out in a close tussle with New Zealand in the semi-finals.

They started well in the bronze medal match, looking comfortable and taking the first set 21-15. A close second set left the strong Scottish fan-base on tenterhooks with the lead changing multiple times. Scotland had the opportunity to serve for the match, and the medal, but were unable to seal the deal. Rwanda capitalised and were able to take the second set 24-26.

With the decider looming, Scotland continued to battle on in the soaring heat but it was Rwanda who coped better under pressure to take the final set 15-10. Beach Volleyball is once again included at the 2021 Youth Games in Trinidad & Tobago.

Scotland at the Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games is the only occasion where Scotland gets to compete in a multi-sport event as a nation in its own right and is one of only six countries to have competed in every Commonwealth Games since their inception in Hamilton in 1930. Represented by 15 athletes participating in six sports at those first Games, and winning a very creditable 10 medals, Scotland have gone on to win medals at every Games since.

Edinburgh became the first city to hold the Games twice in 1970 and 1986 and also became the first city to host the Commonwealth Youth Games.

Scotland hosted the Games for a third time when Glasgow welcomed athletes and officials to the XXth Commonwealth Games from 23rd July – 3rd August 2014. That year, team Scotland celebrated their most successful Games in history, winning a total of 53 medals. The team then went on to record their highest ever overseas medal tally at Gold Coast in 2018.

A Commonwealth Games sport since 1978, Gymnastics has been a regular contributor to the Team Scotland medal tally, particularly in recent years. To round off our ‘Celebrating Our Past, Building Our Future’ Sport Focus, here are 12 things you might not know about the sport:

1. Gymnastics has existed for more than 2,000 years and was included in the Ancient Olympic Games until the abandonment of the Games in AD 393. The sport has evolved over time and some of the disciplines included under this ancient definition of gymnastics later became separate sports such as athletics, wrestling, and boxing.

2. Before the Scottish Gymnastics Association was founded on 24 May 1890, gymnastics in Scotland had a link with the British military, specifically the Army Physical Training Corps, to build strength in soldiers while increasing levels of agility and flexibility. In 1872, in discussions over the British Education Act, it was decided that an amendment should be made to include: “The introduction and teaching of physical drill and gymnastics”.

3. In contrast to the sport’s early male participation, as Scottish Gymnastics celebrates its 130^th anniversary in 2020, 85% of the Scottish governing body’s members are female and 78% are female under the age of 18.

4. The modern sport began in Germany in the late 1700s and the Federation of International Gymnastics (FIG) was established in 1881. Current disciplines recognised by the FIG are Artistic Gymnastics, Rhythmic Gymnastics, Trampolining, Tumbling, Acrobatic Gymnastics and Aerobic Gymnastics (formerly Sports Aerobics).

5. The first truly international gymnastics competition was the 1896 Olympic Games. Events were only for men and included some of the apparatus we are familiar with today alongside events such as rope climbing. Events were not standardised until 1928 with five of the six apparatus contested today. A Floor event was added in 1932. Rhythmic Gymnastics was added to the Olympic programme in 1984 and Trampolining in 2000.

6. The first Olympic Games to feature women’s gymnastics was Amsterdam 1928 where the only event was the Team Competition consisting of scores for drill, apparatus and vault.

7. Gymnastics made its Commonwealth Games debut at the 1978 Games in Edmonton, Canada. After a two Games gap, it has featured in every games since Auckland 1990. Team Scotland has won a total of 12 medals in Gymnastics: 3 gold, 2 silver and 7 bronze.

8. Artistic Gymnastics is a core sport, meaning that it must be included in every Commonwealth Games. Rhythmic Gymnastics was first introduced in the 1990 Auckland Games and is an optional discipline, meaning that the host country can chose to add it into the programme if they wish.

9. Scotland’s first Commonwealth Games Gymnastics medal was won by Jo Walker, who won bronze in the Hoop at Victoria 1994. This remains Scotland’s only Rhythmic Gymnastics medal at the Games to date.

10. Scotland’s most successful Commonwealth Games gymnast is Daniel Keatings. At Glasgow 2014, Daniel won gold on Pommel Horse, and two silver medals – one for the Individual All-Around, and one in the Men’s Team Event. Daniel also won bronze at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Bendigo 2004 in the Men’s Team Event.

11. Scotland currently sits 6^th on the All-Time Medal Table for Gymnastics at the Commonwealth Games, with a total of 12 medals. Canada is currently at the top, winning an impressive 143 medals in total. Scotland’s most successful Commonwealth Games in Gymnastics was in Glasgow 2014. The team came away with 5 medals in total, including two gold.

12. In 2006 a new scoring system was introduced with separate scores for the difficulty of the routine and how well it is executed. These are added together to give the final score which is usually in the mid-teens, rather than the traditional ‘perfect 10’.

One of four young gymnasts selected to represent Scotland as the sport made its Commonwealth Games debut in 1978, Karen Forbes went on to compete into her 50s in veteran’s gymnastics and is still actively involved in coaching the sport. For our Sport Focus series she gives us a fascinating insight into Gymnastics’ debut Games in Edmonton, how the sport has changed and her subsequent career in cancer and palliative care medicine.

“I started gymnastics when my PE teacher at my primary school started a little gym club. I was relatively late starting because I was probably 9 or 10 then, and I vividly remember at lunch time there would be this little stretch of carpet in the entrance way of the school and we would do back flips with a chair cushion on the floor so I wouldn’t bang my head. The teacher thought I had potential so I started travelling the 20 miles each way to go to Tameside Olympic Gym Club in Stalybridge to train and it all took off from there.

“I liked the challenge and I loved the artistry and grace of it. I loved being part of a team but was always very aware that, whilst you were competing for the team, once you got on to the Floor, Beam or Bars, the only person that could do it was you. I liked that individual within the team element of it all.

“I count myself lucky that I competed at a time when artistry and grace really counted. I was training during and coming up to the ‘72 and ‘76 Olympics so we had Olga Korbut and I found it really fascinating, because the crowd would go mad when Korbut finished and the gymnasts would go mad for Tourischeva. I just adored Tourischeva and Elvira Saadi because they were just so graceful and talented in a different way to the tricks that Korbut did. More recently I think Svetlana Khorkina was just amazing, but she had everything of course, she could do the amazing skills but was also just beautiful to look at. Simone Biles is extraordinary but she’s an acrobat not a gymnast; there’s not as much artistry about it. It’s a different sport now, but I still love watching it.

“It was probably a couple of years before Edmonton that suddenly there was talk about selection for the Commonwealth Games, which of course hadn’t been relevant before. I was competing nationally for Great Britain at the time and it was my coach Bill Mclaughlin who got in touch with the Scottish lead coach and I started travelling up to squad training in Scotland. So, just before I was 16, I was getting on a train and going Macclesfield to Manchester, Manchester to Glasgow and Glasgow to Largs on my own, which at the time actually felt pretty big and scary. It was a long way to travel on your own and I did that from ’76 up to the Games in 1978. Being selected was very exciting, a bit scary, but mainly exciting because, having trained with the other girls for a couple of years, I knew them well and I knew the coaches well, so it was just a real adventure.

“I’d travelled, but only with my family to France, so it was a very long flight to Edmonton. I’d done GB trips before, but this time you turn up at the airport and there’s just hundreds of people wearing the same tracksuit as you and all this baggage. We flew out of Prestwick and there was lots of chat and just gently getting to know each other on the plane, which was amazing because when you go on a gym trip you know your tiny team really well and now suddenly there’s just all these people, which was exciting and a bit daunting. But it made the journey go quickly, it was lots and lots of new experiences.

“At the Games two things stood out. One was the friendliness of the Games, everybody was having a great time. Yes, they were training hard and were going to compete hard but there was just this real feeling of everybody wanting everyone else to do the best they could. The second was that I was just a bit blown away by the diversity of the competitors. There were two girls competing in Gymnastics and they were from South East Asia, I can’t remember the actual country, but they’d never seen a beam before!

“They were going to do single bar routines because they’d never had asymmetric bars and they’d never seen a beam so they were only going to compete three pieces. They were in the same training group as us so we taught them a simple mount, a walk along the beam and a simple dismount so that on the day they could compete all four pieces. They were absolutely lovely and so excited, but that’s extraordinary isn’t it, how someone would learn to get on and off a beam and compete that for the first time ever at the Commonwealth Games. It was just mind-blowing.

“My own competition went so fast; it went by in a blur. I remember being horribly, horribly nervous in a way that I hadn’t been before. I remember Floor and Beam being absolutely fine, but Floor and Beam normally were for me. I remember being slightly disappointed with my Bars because I had been training a full twisting Hecht dismount and we decided that I would just go for it. So I did, but I landed with my chest nearly on the floor and I had to rescue it. That’s terrible isn’t it, that’s the main thing I remember about the Commonwealth Games – just rescuing a not terribly elegant landing from bars!

“I had never been in a stadium that big before, the lights were just so bright, there was so many people, and the noise was incredible. I remember Avril Lennox, who used to be British Champion early on when I was training, saying to somebody, ‘if the fire alarm went off while I was on the beam, I would finish my routine before I realised,’ and to me it did feel a bit like that. You just suddenly became aware of all your surroundings once you finished your routine. But it was great being part of the team and encouraging the others, you felt responsible for them, as well as looking after yourself.

“The biggest thing I took from the experience was that you can be really scared about something but you can master that, and you can do it. I guess it’s the achievement of getting past something that made you so scared, that you thought might make you sick, but going out there and getting it done.

“We didn’t see a lot of Edmonton itself , it did tend to be that bubble of eat, sleep, training, gym, bit of walking around the village then eat, sleep, training, gym. But we did a trip afterwards in big traditional Canadian Buses and went off to the Rockies. I remember vividly going up to Lake Louise and that was just so beautiful, so lovely. I’ve been to the Rockies since and sort of came around the corner and saw this view of Lake Louise and suddenly ‘oh my goodness’, I was back there as a seventeen-year-old.

“After the Games I went and did my degree and graduated in 1984. I had done a placement in my final year which was in a cancer centre, and that was it, that was absolutely what I wanted to do. I wanted to look after people with cancer. I did three years of training in cancer medicine and then realised it wasn’t cancer I wanted to do at all, it was palliative care. I worked in palliative care, first in Cardiff and then in Leeds, finished my training and came down to Bristol to become a consultant. My lightbulb moment was realising that, while I could make a difference to the patient in front of me if I was a good palliative care physician, I can make a difference to far more people if I teach other people how to do this well. So, I went into academic palliative medicine in Bristol. I’m now a Professor of Palliative Medicine and I run all the cancer and palliative care teaching for the Bristol Undergraduate Programme. I’ve just been appointed as the co-programme director so, I currently do 50% NHS, 50% University.

“I have published papers about palliative and end of life care and published a book called ‘Today’s Students, Tomorrow’s Doctors’ which brings together these extraordinary reflective pieces written by final year students, reflecting on something that happened during their first experience on the ward alongside junior doctors.

“I competed in Gymnastics as a veteran and I was British Veteran Champion three times. One of my proudest moments was discovering at age 52 or 53 that I could still do 10 long upstarts in a row. I’ve hung up the leotard again. I competed up until 2 years ago and then I had a bit of an injury, not a bad one but when I went back into the gym I suddenly was scared, and I hadn’t been scared all that time. I started to say, ‘you don’t have to do this, you don’t have to scare yourself anymore, why don’t you just keep coaching and hang up the leotard?’ My son Sam competed in Gymnastics until he was 17 and my youngest son Tom competed in trampoline until he was about 14, so there was something in the genes I think.

“I’m most proud of giving something back in terms of coaching, having encouraged others into the sport and into loving a sport that I have loved for a long time. You’re coaching these kids to do upstarts and they just don’t get it, they don’t get it and they don’t get it, then suddenly they get it and you think to yourself, yes!

“I’m absolutely certain that I wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t done Gymnastics. It teaches you so many skills and you learn self-belief, time management, the ability to master your fear and go for it anyway, team working skills. I think at its core it’s about the self-belief really. I can do this even though it looks big and scary from the outside. Gymnastics has very much been part of shaping the person I’ve become.”

Please note that with the current situation relating to the COVID-19 Coronavirus, the Commonwealth Games Scotland office will be operational, but staff will be working remotely.

In line with government guidelines we have instructed staff to work from home and our staff will continue to work remotely within normal hours of 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday.

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Useful Information

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Team Scotland was represented at the 2020 Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey by Glasgow 2014 and Gold Coast 2018 Squash competitor Kevin Moran and Gold Coast 2018 weightlifter Lisa Tobias, both members of our Athlete Advisory Panel. They teamed up to give us a glimpse behind the scenes and tell us about this special event in their own words:

A few days beforehand we got in touch with each other to chat wardrobe for the event, would it be the tracksuit from 2014? Or perhaps the sleeveless bespoke top from the sunny climate of Gold Coast in 2018? Anyway, after much deliberation and consideration we came to the conclusion that there was only one route to go… we would KILT UP for this prestigious honour in Westminster Abbey.

Neither of us knowing too much about the event…or knowing London very well…or being very good at flying…and just struggling to have a general sense of direction between us, we seemed like the perfect duo to take on such a challenge!

So up in the air we went in our matching kilts and one hour and lot of turbulence later we arrived down in sunny (ish) London town. For two people with no sense of direction we made it to Westminster with bags of time, straight for a coffee and then back out in the cold to wait for the other athletes arriving at our designated meeting spot. One by one they all fetched up, first a rep from the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), then a runner from England, followed by a gymnast, also from England, then Martin our CGF point of contact then Denise Lewis then…Wait….What…WHY IS DENISE LEWIS HERE!?!? A bit star struck we chatted away to a very glamorous looking Denise and waited for our last two athlete reps from Northern Ireland. 

Once Northern Ireland’s netballers arrived it was straight into the Abbey to see where we’d be sitting, a picture with Denise and then a quick briefing from Martin on what we would be doing for the next few hours… Which went as follows “Just go and chat to the hundreds of school children that are sitting down”. Pressure was on! 

They were all so grateful and lovely. We were greeted with ear to ear smiles and books for us to autograph. All of them so well behaved and so nervous / excited to see Antony Joshua and the Queen in the flesh! What a treat it was getting to chat to them all about the Commonwealth sports we do, their hopes and dreams and what they were most looking forward to about the day. 

We were placed in line for the procession and, thanks to our Team Scotland kilts, we were first to go! After a very speedy briefing of “left foot first and just follow me” we were all set. Thankfully we didn’t crumble under the pressure and made it down the aisle (very slowly) whist passing and smiling to a lot of the school children we’d just met.

Time now to take our seats whilst we excitedly awaited the arrival of the Royal Family and celebrities which included Anthony Joshua, Alexandra Burke and Craig David. One by one they walked in through the main entrance of the Abbey with its 2,000 strong audience and took their seats not too far away from us. 

The incredible line up did not disappoint. We were incredibly honoured to hear Anthony Joshua’s thoughts on the Commonwealth, as well as listening to music by Craig David and Alexandra Burke, all whilst sitting right across from the Royal Family. This event being Harry and Meghan’s last made it all the more special. 

At the end of the service we walked out commenting on how incredible and immaculate the Abbey is. What an experience and honour. One we’ll never forget. 

Our final challenge remaining was to find our way back to the airport and we……smashed it, well almost, we only got on one wrong train!

Thanks Team Scotland for an incredible day. 

Lisa Tobias and Kevin Moran

Since Artistic Gymnastics was first introduced into the Commonwealth Games programme in 1978 and Rhythmic in 1990, Scotland’s gymnasts have gone on to win 12 medals.  From record medal tallies to historic firsts, here are just some of the highlights from 40 years years of Team Scotland success.

Glasgow 2014 – The Best Games Ever

In the stunning setting of the SSE Hydro, Gymnastics won their first gold medals since Manchester 2002 and had their most successful Commonwealth Games ever winning two gold, two silver and a bronze. Things got off to the perfect start with the Men’s Team of Liam Davie, Adam Cox, Daniel Keatings, Daniel Purvis and Frank Baines claiming a historic silver, Scotland’s first ever team medal in gymnastics at a Commonwealth Games.

For the rest of the week it was the story of the two Daniels, with Keatings and Purvis each winning a further two medals. Keatings became Commonwealth Games Champion on the Pommel Horse as well as winning silver in the Individual All-Around, whilst teammate Daniel Purvis was the only athlete to collect a full set of medals with gold on Parallel Bars and bronze on Rings to add to his Team silver.

Manchester 2002 – Frew Wins First Gold

Steve Frew came out of retirement to win gold on the rings in his fourth Games, Scotland’s first Artistic medal and first gold in any Gymnastics discipline. Scoring 9.462, he shared the top step of the podium with Herodotos Giorgallas from Cyprus who was given exactly the same score. His win spurred on fellow gymnast Barry Collie, who took bronze in the Vault and also took 4th on Parallel Bars and 6th on High Bar. The Men’s Team of Frew, Collie, Jon Mutch, Ryan McReadie and Adam Cox took 4th place.

The Women’s Team of Gayle Campbell, Helen Galashan and Lynne Donaghy finished 6th. Galashan was the top individual performer taking 9th place in the Individual All-Around, 5th on Beam and 8th in an Asymmetric Bars final won by England’s Beth Tweddle. Campbell was also an apparatus finalist, finishing 7th on Floor.

Victoria 1994 – Rhythmic Leads the Way

Joanne Walker won Scotland’s first ever Gymnastics medal with a bronze in the Rhythmic Hoop event, calling on  her experience from three World and two European Championships. The sensation of the Rhythmic events was 14 year old Kasumi Takahashi from Australia who won all five individual gold medals on offer plus a silver in the Team Event.

The Scottish team of Walker, Gayle Godson and Lyndsey Johnston finished sixth, with Walker and Johnston qualifying for the Individual All-Around where they finished sixth and 12th respectively. Walker was also a finalist in Ribbon (7th), Ball (6th) and Clubs (5th). After the Games she moved to Namibia to take up the post of national coach.

In the Artistic events, Steve Frew, competing in his second Commonwealth Games, took fifth place on High Bar and eighth on Pommel Horse.

Gold Coast 2018 – Men’s Team Medal Again

A full squad of 10 artistic gymnasts (five men and five women) were selected for Team Scotland at Gold Coast 2018. Three gymnasts had competed at Glasgow 2014 including three-time Games medallist Daniel Purvis and Men’s Team silver medallist, Frank Baines. Having won their first ever Team Event medal at Glasgow 2014, Scotland’s men followed up with their second at the Coomera Indoor Sports Centre, winning bronze on the opening day.

Scotland started on the Pommel Horse, and despite Kelvin Cham subsequently being ruled out through injury after a short landing on the Rings, the men rallied and carried out excellent performances on the Vault, Parallel Bars, and High Bar, before finishing with four impressive Floor routines. After completing all six pieces of apparatus, men had an overall score of 240.975, putting them in third place behind England on 258.95 and Canada on 248.65.

Frank Baines and Hamish Carter both qualified for the Men’s Individual All-Around Final, where they finished fourth and sixth respectively. In the men’s Individual Apparatus Finals there was further success for Team Scotland. Dan Purvis claimed bronze on the Floor, nudging team mate Hamish Carter into fourth and there was a bronze also for Frank Baines on Parallel Bars.

Team Scotland’s women placed fifth in the Women’s Team event, scoring 142.95 points. Both Cara Kennedy and Shannon Archer qualified for the Women’s Individual All-Around Final where they finished ninth and 10th respectively and the Vault Final where Shannon was fifth and Cara seventh.

Melbourne 2006 – Cox Claims Bronze

The magnificent Rod Laver Arena was packed to the rafters as the Gymnastics competition got underway with the Team competitions. Scotland’s men (Adam Cox, Andrew Mackie, Barry Koursarys, Daniel Keatings and Steve Frew) put in a very credible performance to finish fourth overall. The highlight in the individual apparatus finals came from Adam Cox on High Bar, posting a score early in the competition to take bronze.

The women’s team also produced a solid performance in the Team event to finish fifth. In what was a superb effort from a relatively inexperienced team, three gymnasts qualified for the Individual All-Around competition, and four for apparatus finals. In the Floor final it was so near and yet so far for 14-year-old Jennifer Hannah, the youngest member of the Scottish Team, coming agonisingly close to a medal, edged into 4th place by the final competitor.  

As Scotland’s top gymnasts prepare for the National Artistic Championships in Perth at the end of this month, Gymnastics is next into our ‘Celebrating Our Past, Building Our Future’ Sport Focus spotlight, as we continue to feature each of the 25 sports in which Scotland has competed at the Commonwealth Games.

Frank Baines and Cara Kennedy lifted the Men’s and Women’s All-Around titles in 2019, with the Championships bringing together the country’s top artistic gymnasts to compete for coveted national titles. For 2020 the event returns to Perth’s Bell’s Sports Centre on 28 and 29 March.

Look out for all things Gymnastics on Team Scotland’s website and social channels this month as we delve into the archives for tales of past success and also look ahead to the rising stars of the sport who could be representing Team Scotland at Birmingham 2022.

Gymnastics at the Commonwealth Games

Find out more about Gymnastics in the Commonwealth Games on our dedicated Gymnastics page.

Scotland’s Commonwealth Games Medallists

Scotland sent gymnasts to both the 1978 and 1990 Commonwealth Games, a 6th place in the Women’s Team Event the top performance, but it was not until Victoria 1994 that Joanne Walker won Scotland’s first ever Gymnastics medal with a bronze in the Rhythmic Hoop event. She was also a finalist in Ribbon, Ball and Clubs and combined with Gayle Godsen and Lynsey Johnston to finish 6th in the Team Event.

The first Artistic Gymnastics medals came in 2002 as Steve Frew came out of retirement to win gold on the rings in his fourth Games, Scotland’s first ever Gymnastics gold. His win spurred on fellow gymnast Barry Collie, who took bronze in the vault and also took 4th on Parallel Bars and 6th on High Bar. Both men’s and women’s teams performed well in the Team event with the men taking 4th place and the women 6th. Adam Cox was the sole Gymnastics medallist at Melbourne 2006 with High Bar bronze just two years on from an outstanding five medal haul at the Commonwealth Youth Games, also held in Australia. At Delhi 2010 the top performance came from Amy Reagan who just missed the medals with a fourth place on Floor and combined forces with Jordan Lipton and Tori Simpson to take fifth in the Women’s Team Event.

And so on to Glasgow 2014 where, in the stunning setting of the SSE Hydro, Gymnastics won their first gold medals since Manchester 2002 and had their most successful Commonwealth Games ever winning two gold, two silver and a bronze. Things got off to the perfect start with the Men’s Team of Liam Davie, Adam Cox, Daniel Keatings, Daniel Purvis and Frank Baines claiming a historic silver, Scotland’s first ever team medal in gymnastics at a Commonwealth Games. For the rest of the week it was the story of the two Daniels, with Keatings and Purvis each winning a further two medals. Keatings became Commonwealth Games Champion on the Pommel Horse as well as winning silver in the Individual All-Around, whilst teammate Daniel Purvis was the only athlete to collect a full set of medals with gold on Parallel Bars and bronze on Rings to add to his Team silver.

Having won their first ever Team Event medal at Glasgow 2014, Scotland’s men followed up with their second at Gold Coast 2018 winning bronze on the opening day. Despite Kelvin Cham being ruled out through injury after a short landing on the Rings, the men rallied in the final four apparatus to finish third behind England and Canada. Frank Baines and Hamish Carter both qualified for the Men’s Individual All-Around Final, where they finished fourth and sixth respectively. There was further success for Team Scotland as Dan Purvis claimed bronze on the Floor, nudging team mate Hamish Carter into fourth and there was a bronze also for Frank Baines on Parallel Bars. Team Scotland’s women placed fifth in the Team event, both Cara Kennedy and Shannon Archer qualified for the Women’s Individual All-Around Final where they finished ninth and 10th respectively and the Vault Final where Shannon was fifth and Cara seventh.

Team Scotland Gymnastics Medallists

Youth Games Success

Gymnastics has featured at the Commonwealth Youth Game on three occasions: Edinburgh 2000, Bendigo 2004 and Isle of Man 2011. at the inaugural Games in Edinburgh Scotland’s four women and two men excelled, bringing home two gold, one silver and four bronze medals as the team’s most successful sport of the Games. Craig Barry was also Scotland’s most successful athlete of the Games as he won gold on Vault and silver on Floor. Gayle Campbell made it a clean sweep on Vault for the Scots by winning the women’s event while Michelle Denholm collected four bronze medals in the Rhythmic events.

Bendigo 2004 saw more Scottish success as both men and women won medals in the Team Event for the first time. Two of the men’s team, Adam Cox and Daniel Keatings, went on to be part of another first for the sport – Team Scotland’s first Gymnastics Team medal at the Commonwealth Games – a silver at Glasgow 2014. Adam Cox was in outstanding form in Bendigo winning two gold and three bronze medals. Isle of Man 2011 saw Scotland’s six gymnasts line up in the Team Event on the opening day with the women finishing fourth and the men fifth. This qualified each of the gymnasts for individual events over the weekend with Douglas Ross excelling in the Men’s Vault final to win gold.

Scotland at the Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games is the only occasion where Scotland gets to compete in a multi-sport event as a nation in its own right and is one of only six countries to have competed in every Commonwealth Games since their inception in Hamilton in 1930. Represented by 15 athletes participating in six sports at those first Games, winning a very creditable 10 medals, Scotland have gone on to win medals at every Games since.

Edinburgh became the first city to hold the Games twice in 1970 and 1986 and also became the first city to host the Commonwealth Youth Games.

Scotland hosted the Games for a third time when Glasgow welcomed athletes and officials to the XXth Commonwealth Games which was held from 23rd July – 3rd August 2014. Team Scotland celebrated their most successful Games in history, winning a total of 53 medals and went on to record their highest overseas medal tally ever at Gold Coast 2018.

Find out more about the Commonwealth Games and Team Scotland’s past success in our Past Games section.