Four members of the Cayman Islands Gymnastics team travelled to Ynys Mon for the Inter-Island Games and returned with 8 medals — 4 silver and 4 bronze!

Igor Magalhaes competed in the first event of the Games, the Junior Boys Set (compulsory) competition, on July 23. Igor competed in all six events in a field of 12 boys, aged 11-12, from Jersey, Bermuda, Isle of Man and Cayman. Igor put Cayman on the map winning an impressive 3 silver medals on floor, vault and high bar and two bronze medals on parallel bars.

These Games were the first international competition where Cayman has been represented in any men’s gymnastics events and Igor demonstrated that there is a strong future for men’s gymnastics in Cayman. Igor’s coach, Alison Gansebom, was extremely pleased with his results and attributed them to Igor’s dedication and hard work.

Morgan Lloyd, Sami Peene and Raegan Rutty competed in the Senior Women’s Set competition and the team competition immediately following the boys. The girl competed with 40 girls from 7 countries including Isle of Man, Bermuda, Jersey, Gotland, Shetland and Ynys Mon. In the team competition, teams are comprised of 6 gymnasts with the top 3 scores on each event counting towards the team score – with only 3 gymnasts, every score counted for Cayman. The Cayman team delivered a strong and consistent performance earning them a 4th place finish with a 68.5, only 0.2 points behind Jersey who earned the bronze medal. Isle of Man won the gold in the team event and Bermuda took silver.

In the individual set competition Morgan Lloyd earned two bronze medals, tying with Isle of Man on floor and with Bermuda on bars. Sami Peene earned two top 10 finishes with a 5th place finish on beam and 9th on bars.

On July 25th, the girls went on to compete in the Senior Women’s FIG (optional) competition. Sami earned Cayman’s final medal of the Games, with a silver on bars. This girls placed 9th, 12th and 16th all-around in a very competitive field. Coach Kelley Paz was proud of the girls’ results as Cayman has consistently moved up in the rankings in these Games since they first took part in 2011, despite fielding a small team. Lauren Hill and Katie Scott were the first gymnasts to compete for Cayman in Jersey in 2011. Bethany Dikau, Morgan and Jessica Lloyd, Haley Willkom and Hilary Cockhill fielded the first team for Cayman and Bethany was the first Caymanian to win a medal (silver on vault) for Cayman in Bermuda in 2013.

Gymnastics is an optional sport at the Nat West Island Games and is included at the discretion of the host country. Gymnastics was part of the Island Games in 2013 in Bermuda and will be included again in the 2017 Island Games in Gotland. While gymnastics was not part of the Island Games in Jersey this year, Ynys Mon hosted the member countries at this separate event immediately following the official Games. The gymnasts are looking forward to joining the rest of Cayman’s athletes at the next Games in Gotland.