Athletes go red in Rhodes island

THE fears have been realised - Rhodes is scorching hot. After their long journey and lack of sleep, many of the Guernsey team decided against over-exerting themselves on the first day. Yet everyone has noticed the heat, so the swimming pool and 'lazy river' at the Esperos Palace Hotel were constantly busy.

Among the worst affected were the women's golf team, who had a brief practice at the Afandou Golf Club and immediately found a use for their umbrellas.

'I find it quite pleasant here 'at the team hotel' but we drove out to the golf course and as we got out of the car, it was like oven temperature,' said Mandy Webber.

'We did a bit of chipping, with the brollies to protect us.

'It is on the coast but it is still hotter than here 'the hotel'. We did think it might be better if we were covered in clothes, possibly. I reckon we could drink five litres of water a round.'

Teammate Sue Wellfair then attempted some bunker practice, but said it was 'red hot' stepping into the sand trap.

Mrs Webber added: 'The girl behind the bar at the club said it had not been that hot for 100 years.'

The Afandou course is an open links with no shade. The Guernsey players said it had been unbearable to stand still with no respite from the sun.

'I have played in Thailand and Australia when I have come off the course drenched in sweat, but this is hotter,' said Mrs Webber.

'Unfortunately, we go out at noon on Monday, but I think the rest of the schedule is better.

'We have got our umbrellas, got our caddies and got our litres of water, so we are as prepared as we can be.'

A chalkboard beside the hotel pool said that the air temperature was 34C.

The golf course was in the region of 40C, which even for this sun-worshippers' paradise, is unseasonably hot.

Guernseyman Kevin Prevel, who lives in Afandou, said the whole of Greece had been sweltering in a heatwave for the past seven days.

'If you look on the web, the temperatures are taken on the west coast on a mountain above the airport,' he said.

'Night-time temperatures do not drop by much more than five degrees. In fact, when I got up at seven this morning, it was 35C and by nine it was 37C.'

But Mr Prevel had some good news. The forecast is for the temperature to drop back to the seasonal norm of about 33-35C in the shade.