Smith and Cox to carry flag and water in Gotland
News Release - 22nd May 2017
Team Shetland today announced the names of their Flag Bearer and Water Carrier for next month’s NatWest Island Games in the Swedish island of Gotland.
Table tennis player Joan Smith will carry the Shetland flag and lead the Shetland Team into the Opening Ceremony in Visby on Saturday 24th June.
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This will be Joan’s eighth Games, having first taken part in Gibraltar in 1995 and she has represented Shetland in three sports – badminton, squash and table tennis. At the squash competition in Bermuda in 2013, Joan won a silver medal in the singles event, and a bronze medal in the pairs with playing partner Kerry Pottinger. Joan is well known in Shetland sport, particularly in the South Mainland, where she works as a PE teacher, and has represented Scotland in both squash and table tennis.
Medal-winning track athlete Faye Cox will be the Water Carrier at the Opening Ceremony, part of which includes the Water Ceremony, where a representative of each team pours water from their island into a fountain that runs throughout the Games week.
This year’s Games will be the fifth time that Unst-based Faye has represented Shetland, having first competed in 2005, where she won two silver medals in the 100m and 200m sprint events on the Clickimin track. At the last Games in Jersey in 2015, Faye won gold as part of the Shetland 4 x 100m relay team alongside Tamar Moncrieff, Sophie Moar and Kristi Grant, and two bronze medals in the 100m and 200m sprints. In April 2016, Faye gave birth to a daughter before returning to training shortly afterwards to prepare for the track competition at this year’s Games.
Karen Woods, Chair of Shetland Island Games Association said: “We’re delighted that Joan and Faye have accepted the honour of being our Flag Bearer and Water Carrier for the opening ceremony. They’ve both worked hard to achieve success in their chosen sports and are fantastic ambassadors for Shetland sport.”
At this year’s Games, Team Shetland will comprise 129 competitors and officials taking part in eleven sports – archery, athletics, badminton, cycling, football, golf, gymnastics, 
shooting, swimming, table tennis and triathlon. The Team is sponsored by Malakoff Limited, Shetland’s leading marine engineering and fabrication specialist, for the third consecutive Games.
Around 3000 participants are expected to take part at this year’s Games, that will include teams from 24 competing islands, during a week-long programme of 14 sports. For more information, please look up: www.islandgames2017.com/
