Ynys Môn returned from the 20th Island Games in Orkney collecting eight medals, with two gold medals coming on the athletics track through Ffion Roberts and Beca Bown.
Orkney was hosting the Island Games for the first time. They are the smallest island to ever host, with a population of 22,000, and all eyes were on them to see how they would cope with an influx of thousands of competitors, officials and supporters. To say that they did a magnificent job would be an understatement. The event and venues were excellent; the infrastructure was brilliant and the much-scrutinised school accommodation worked really well for the team. The Ynys Môn team kit included a waterproof and bobble hat, but temperatures in the mid 20’s meant sun screen and shorts were more appropriate!
ATHLETAU | ATHLETICS
Athletics again proved fertile ground. While some of the previous medalists weren’t available, the haul of four medals shows the strength in depth that the island produces. Ffion Roberts showed her class once more with a dominant performance in defending her 400m title. She followed that up with a silver medal in the 200m, pushing her individual medal tally in to the Top 10 of all-time Ynys Môn competitors. Beca Bown is off to the USA under a sports scholarship this year and what better way to depart than claiming gold at the Island Games with a stunning run in 1,500m. Her run and reaction was captured on ITV Wales.
The men’s 4x100m broke the Ynys Môn record with a time of 42.46s. Cai Jones, Zachary Price, Ewan Jones, Cameron Jones and Cian Gordon-Clark were part of that silver medal winning team. Other records were broken as follows:
- 4x100m men – 42.46
- 400m women – 54.12 – Ffion Roberts
- 800m women – 2:15.05 – Beca Bown
- 100m hurdles women – 16.04 – Darcy Williams
BADMINTON | BADMINTON
A team of 9 headed to Orkney, coached by Lee Matthews, for a really intense week of competition. Starting the week was the Team Event. The draw could have been a lot kinder with defeats against strong sides from Guernsey and Faroe Islands (eventual Silver medalists). The final group game saw a tight match end up 3-2 to Cayman Islands. A win there would have put us in the 9-12th bracket but instead we had to settle for the 13-16th playoffs. The first match saw us against Froya for the first time in our history. A convincing 5-0 win lifted the spirits! We battled hard against Bermuda and beat them 3-2 with the Mixed Doubles pair of Josh Hart and Steffi Oliver-Smith getting us over the line to finish 13th for the second Games in a row. There were also wins in the singles and doubles tournaments; with Eban Jones having a notable run to the Semi Finals in the Consolation Singles tournament, only narrowly missing out on a place in the final. A special mention for Josh Hart who led the team with six wins throughout the week.
PÊL-DROED | FOOTBALL
In recent years, the men’s and women’s teams have been making excellent progress at the Island Games. Having been finalists on a regular basis through the early years of the Games, the men’s teams hadn’t reached the medal matches this century until claiming silver in 2023. In Orkney, the men’s team had a real battle to do the same with no easy games scheduled. A 90th minute winner against Western Isles gave a 1-0 victory in the opener. The other group game was a 2-2 draw against Bermuda, with the opponents equalising in the 90th minute. That result was enough for both to go through with Ynys Môn qualifying as the best runner-up. That threw up a Semi Final against Isle of Man. A very professional performance gave us a 1-0 win and the chance to play Bermuda again. Sadly in the final Bermuda showed their class to win 3-1, meaning our boys claimed the silver medal.
The women’s team have been progressing very well under the guidance of Dan Gregg in recent Games. Previous appearances in 2015 and 2017 saw the women’s footballers finish 10th and 11th but 2023 was a record finish of 5th. Keen to go even further, a re-match with the Western Isles was first up. We lost to them 6-1 in 2023 and this time was a much better match. What did outdo us was the strong wind in the first half, which eventually saw us fall to a 4-2 loss. For our ladies to then come back and smash Hitra 6-1 shows how much determination this group of players has. That win was an Ynys Môn record for the women’s team. Sadly, that wasn’t enough to be best runner-up and it meant a repeat of the 5th/6th playoff against Jersey. The last battle in 2023 was a tight affair with us just sneaking it 3-2. This time it was sheer dominance and we came away with a classy 4-1 win and joint record 5th place finish.
GOLFF | GOLF
Our team of four headed to Orkney with hopes of a good week on the two courses. Having practiced on the courses in beautiful sunny conditions, a gale-force wind blew across the Stormness course on the first day, causing havoc to many players from how they’d prepared for the course. Our lads battled but there was already too much of a gap for them to claw it back on the three sunny days that followed. Jack Carter was the best placed with three rounds of 71, 71 and 72. Had he scored another round like that and not the 82 he scored on the second day than he’d have been looking at a top 10 finish rather than the 25th place he ended up. Gaz Owen, Kieran Robinson and Sion Thomas all carded rounds in the 70s during the week, but chasing back the deficit was too much, finishing in 30th, 34th and 37th respectively. Overall, the team finished 9th out of 16.
GYMNASTEG | GYMNASTICS
We took a team of six girls to Orkney as Gymnastics returned to the Island Games after an 8-year absence. They did fantastic through a really busy week of training and competing. This did result in injuries (including one of the coaches breaking their wrist!) and yet they put in some superb performances and collectively came so close to getting a medal, finishing 4th out of 11 in the Team Women’s 4-Piece. Calla Woodcock performed amazingly during the week, breaking six Ynys Môn records (listed below) and claiming a bronze in the SET Individual Beam.
- SET Individual Asymmetric Bars – Calla Woodcock – 11.750
- SET Individual Beam – Calla Woodcock – 11.750
- FIG Individual Vault – Calla Woodcock – 11.850
- FIG Individual Asymmetric Bars – Calla Woodcock – 8.850
- FIG Individual Beam – Calla Woodcock – 11.300
- FIG Individual Overall – Calla Woodcock – 42.800
HWYLIO | SAILING
Sailing at the Island Games has always been a fruitful sport for Ynys Môn thanks to our talented sailors. Orkney 2025 was no different, but the line-up was. All-time medal leader Dom Breen-Turner became a Dad (llongyfarchiadau!) just before the Games so wasn’t able to attend. He was replaced by Alistair Dickson for his first appearance at the Island Games. Cat Elson was another debutant and Ynys Môn’s first female sailor and had a solid week in the unfamiliar ICLA6 category . Returning for more medal hunting was Ben Todd and Josh Metcalfe. Ben had a good week on the water, finishing in 4th, missing out on an individual medal by count back. Alistair had the same story in ILCA7 missing out on a bronze on count back. Josh Metcalfe had a great week in ILCA7 finishing in second place and bagging individual silver. Together, as a team, their collective scores meant that they got silver in the Team Event. It was 10 years since Ben’s only other medal, won in Jersey. This is the joint longest period of time between medals for an individual competitor for Ynys Môn.
NOFIO | SWIMMING
This year we sent two young swimmers to Orkney and both came away with personal bests at the international meet. Having been the water-carrier in Guernsey, Hywyn Jones was partnered by the new water-carrier and youngest Ynys Môn competitor Henley Moffat. They both had busy weeks in the pool over various distances and disciplines. Hywyn got a PB in the 100m Butterfly, with newcomer Henley getting PB’s in the 100m Breaststroke, 50m Breaststroke and 50m Freestyle. Well done lads!
TRIATHLON | TRIATHLON
It is now tradition that the Island Games begins with the triathlon and so it continued at Orkney 2025. WIth most events being hosted in Kirkwall it was nice to see our base of Stromness being the centre of attention as crowds gathered to watch the triathlon take place. The swim was around the harbour in the cold open water, followed by some challenging rolling hills around the countryside. The final part was the run through the streets of Stromness, including the punishing cobbles of the main street. The good weather made conditions kind for the bike ride but exhausting throughout. Our two men of Griff Roberts and Armon Williams finished 31st and 44th. The women performed well against a really strong field with Penny Butterfield finishing in 16th and Amy Plank in 21st. A great effort from all four!
DIOLCH | THANK YOU
We would like to thank the many people that helped make Orkney 2025 a success for Ynys Môn. Our attaches were fantastic and couldn’t do enough for us – tipified by Raymie waking up at the crack of dawn to serenade us with his bagpipes as we left on the 7am ferry. Stromness Primary School was a brilliant host to us during the week; with the school set up well with the blow-up beds being very comfortable; the caterers providing excellent food, going above and beyond; and the volunteers and security always welcoming us back to the school with a smile. The YMIGA committee put in countless hours during the week and in the months building up to Orkney. Their work often goes unnoticed and is greatly appreciated. We also want to thank the people that helped get us there, whether that be team sponsors, individual sponsors, family and friends or coaches that helped us prepare. We also had great help and support from Mon Actif and Cymdeithas Elusennol Ynys Môn, whose help is always massively appreciated. Finally, we want to thank our supporters, whether that is people who made the trip to Orkney or supported us from home, we hope we did you proud. Bring on Faroe Islands in 2027!
Ynys Môn Medal Table
| Sport | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athletics | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Sailing | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Football | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Gymnastics | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 2 | 5 | 1 | 8 |