Life goes on minus big three

GUERNSEY are replacing their best three swimmers with youngsters at this year's Island Games. Ian Powell, Tom Hollingsworth and Gail Strobridge are all unavailable for Rhodes at the end of June and have not been named in the Guernsey Amateur Swimming Association's 21-strong squad.

Gasa president Brian Allen is not despondent: 'Selection was not an easy task, as there are so many youngsters showing great potential for the future.'

Commonwealth Games swimmers Jonathan Le Noury, Ben Lowndes, Jeremy Osborne and Ian Hubert provide the experience along with Matthew Robert and Paul and Chris Adkins, who have all swum at an Island Games level.

The youth comes in the form of talented juniors Alexander Beaton, Matthew Allen and Matthew Butt, who will all be making their Games debut.

The women's team arguably has more experience with former Games swimmers Chloe Brehaut, Sarah Hume, Jenny Salmon, Casey Lee, Sophie Castle, Robyn Le Friec, Joanna Laine, Rachael Le Page and Christine Hume all going. They will be joined by 13-year-old Victoria Parfit, who is the youngest member of the squad.

The swimming events in Rhodes will take place in an open-air pool so competitors will have to deal with the added factor of the mid-summer Mediterr-anean temperatures.

'We've got a huge team as it's important that we cope with the heat,' said team manager Alison Frankland.

'These swimmers will have individual events they have to swim in and in heats for relays as well. I think we have got a well-balanced team that can support each other.'