The debutants - Part 3

Andrea de Bruin

Like several other members of this year's Island Games athletics team, Andrea has made a big impression on the local athletics scene in a very short space of time. South African born, she moved to the Isle of Man with her family at the age of six in the summer of 2001. She made her first athletics appearance in 2007, when she competed in the under 13 age group in the Manx Harriers Track & Field league. During that season she tried several events including high jump, shot and javelin, and showed plenty of promise.

She only reappeared as recently as the summer of 2010 when, having shown some natural talent as a discus thrower during PE lessons at school, she was referred to Athletics Development Officer Trevor Christian by her Dad who works at the NSC. In May last year Andrea linked up with coach Michael Callow, who has guided her since with spectacular results. Within the space of three months she had already exceeded the Island Games development guideline distance of 29 metres for the discus, an amazing achievement!

Andrea pictured during a recent training session at the NSC. Both the photos were kindly supplied by Andrea.

Andrea has worked hard over the winter, not only on her technique but also on general fitness, strength and conditioning. This immediately paid off when she upped her pb to a most impressive 31.65 metres in the Manx Harriers Open Meeting in March. Not only is this very close to the main guideline for the Island Games of 32 metres, it is also tantalisingly close to the guideline of 32.80 metres for the Commonwealth Youth Games on the Isle of Man in September. It would be brilliant both for Andrea and for Isle of Man athletics if she were to gain selection for that event, and she has every chance.

Andrea is also a decent javelin thrower and shot putter, with plenty of scope for development in both these events. She is still only 15 years of age (she will be 16 shortly before the Island Games), and if her achievements in her first year of serious athletics are anything to go by I am sure she will continue to make her mark on Isle of Man athletics for a long time to come!
 

Andy Barron

Andy pictured by Murray Lambden at the 2011 Isle of Man cross country championships at Crossags Farm, Ramsey

25 year old middle distance specialist Andy is another relatively recent arrival on the local athletics scene. He had no previous athletics background, and by his own admission was fairly average when he competed on the track during his schooldays. He only got seriously involved in athletics about two years ago when he started attending Chris Quine’s weekly middle distance training sessions at the NSC. Although these group sessions no longer take place, Chris quickly spotted Andy’s raw potential and has since coached him on a one-to-one basis.

It wasn't long before Chris' confidence was justified, and Andy immediately demonstrated his promise with an excellent 35.18 clocking in the Bushy's Great South 10k road race in August 2009. His first cross country season in the winter of 2009/10 was aimed mainly at building strength and fitness and gaining valuable race experience, but by the second half of that season he had broken into the top three in the Manx Gas cross country league races and was regularly beating established cross country specialists.

Andy's serious track career began in the summer of 2010, when once again he immediately displayed his great natural talent. As well as competing in local events including the Isle of Man championships, he travelled away to several Northern League matches and Trafford Open meetings. The latter meetings at Stretford are designed for athletes to run fast times against competitors of a similar standard, and it is no coincidence that Andy's current pbs of 2.00.32 for the 800m and 4.07.54 for the 1500m were both set in these meetings. He has plenty of natural speed, something that is essential for good middle distance runners.

Total commitment from Andy (149) as he chases his Isle of Man teammate Kevin Loundes during the 2010 Isle of Man Track & Field Championships 800m race at the NSC. Andy used his speed to pull clear and win by a couple of seconds (photo www.iomaa.info) 

Another excellent cross country season followed last winter including a fine 21st place in the Lancashire championships, and Andy has also worked very hard on strength and conditioning throughout the winter months. He is one of the most committed, determined and ambitious athletes on the island, and I think his achievements to date are just the start. Andy will benefit hugely from the experience of competing in such a big event as the Island Games, especially having an athlete of the calibre of Keith Gerrard as his teammate in the 1500 metres. I think he will continue to make a big impact on Manx athletics in the years ahead.

Bethan Pilley

Photo kindly supplied by Bethan

The theme of athletes who have achieved a lot in a short space of time continues, as 16 year old long jumper Bethan Pilley fits that description very nicely. Bethan showed a lot of natural talent during school athletics competitions, setting several age group records for both the 100m and long jump.

Her introduction to serious athletics only came fairly recently though, when her younger sister began training with Peter Kaneen's group. Peter agreed to arrange another session to accommodate Bethan and some of her friends, but it was only in the summer of 2010 that the specialist long jump coaching with Peter started in earnest. In the meantime Bethan had been keeping up her general fitness by attending Andy Fox's weekly circuit training sessions at St Ninian's School.

The results were immediate. In July last year she jumped 4.98 metres in a Northern League match at Stretford to comfortably exceed the Island Games development guideline of 4.80m. After a winter of hard work during which she benefitted from the Strength and Conditioning sessions at the IOM Sports Institute, Bethan jumped 5.09 metres in the early season Manx Harriers Open Meeting in March. This is just one centimetre short of the main guideline for the Island Games, and not so very far away from the Commonwealth Youth Games guideline of 5.30m. If she can achieve that perfect jump when she gets everything absolutely spot-on, this is definitely a realistic target.

Bethan is a real sporting all-rounder, playing netball and rounders at school and also being a very keen horse rider. Like all good long jumpers she has real sprinting speed, as a result of which she is part of the 4x100m relay squad at the Island Games. In the long jump event she competes alongside her training partner Sinead Kaneen. 2011 is going to be an exciting year for Bethan and I hope the Isle of Wight event is the first of many Island Games for her.