SPORT
Victory makes it a tennis double
l The winning team with coach Kevin Baker and team captain Cdr Nigel Bowen
THE Royal Navy men’s tennis team are Inter-Service champions again, repeating their success of 2015 by beating the Army and RAF in a closely-fought contest. The victory at Edgbaston Priory in Birmingham is especially sweet because the RN also won the Inter-Service B (indoor) tournament in April. This brings to ten the total of Inter-Service titles won since 2009; all under the captain/ coach combination of Cdr Nigel Bowen and Kevin Baker. Prior to the contest, the Navy squad assembled in Portsmouth for the annual RN tennis championships. The men’s singles title was won by LET(WESM) Scott Nicholls, and the doubles competition was clinched by Lt Dev Chowdhury and L/Cpl James Herbert.
A confident RN team fancied their chances at Edgbaston but was pushed hard by the Army during the singles matches on the first day. Playing the Inter-Service A tournament for the first year, AET Ciaran Losh comfortably won his first match against the RAF No 2 player before rain stopped play. Continuing indoors, Ciaran’s big hitting was very effectively neutralized on the slower surface by his next (Army) opponent – which led to a narrow loss. RN No 3 player Mne James Scales had an equally close contest against his Army opponent, who managed to save a match point and won the dual in a third set tie-break. James managed to defeat the RAF No 3 player later in the day. The hero of the first day, however, was Scott Nicholls. Playing at No 1, he beat Sqn Ldr
Chris Evans in straight sets, having been 5-2 down in the second set. The second day doubles started well, with the RN third pair of AET Losh and Mne Nathan Jackson beating the Army. The No 2 pair of Lt Chowdhury and L/Cpl Herbert beat the RAF in three sets and also won a tight three-set contest against the Army. The RN No 1 pair of LET Nicholls and Mne Scales won comfortably against their RAF opponents and by midway through the day the Royal Navy were ahead of the Army. It would all come down to the final match between the Army and RAF, with the airmen taking the game in three sets. If you are interested in playing, contact your PT department or email RNLTA secretary at navynps-peoplesptrnso1@mod.uk
Navy gymnasts hold on to coveted British title
ROYAL Navy gymnasts retained their British Champions title as well as picking up a clutch of medals.
Five of the team took part in three disciplines – trampoline, tumbling and men’s artistic – and picked up a bronze in the tumbling contest. But the title everyone at the Lilleshall National Sports Centre in Shropshire was after was that of British champions – and the Royal Navy team held on to the crown that they won last year. The bronze-medal winning tumbling team consisted of Lt Cdr Kevin Westbrook, LET Keiron Ellison, POET Ben Wright and CPOPT Keith McCormick. Lt Cdr Westbrook finished in second place in the individual category, with LET Ellison picking up a bronze medal. The remaining two team members finished in eighth and ninth places. “This was my first ever competition on all six pieces of apparatus and I pushed myself to include a new move on each piece – I was particularly pleased with my back somersault dismount on the parallel bars,” said Lt Cdr Westbrook. LET Ellison also finished in fifth spot in the trampolining category. The title-winning team for the men’s artistic category saw POET Wright pick up a silver medal in the over-18 section,
l Members of the triumphant Royal Navy Gymnastics Team show off their medal haul
with AB Daniel Dempsey fifth and AB Aiden Sartin in ninth. Lt Cdr Westbrook picked up a silver medal in the over30 category while CPOPT McCormick finished fourth in the over-40 section. Two of the team hadn’t taken part in a competition before, and AB Dempsey had to learn
his high bar and floor routines a mere ten minutes before the contest started as he had been deployed at sea. POET Wright said: “The Royal Navy Gymnastics team has been training hard since the British Vets last year, putting together new routines and learning new moves.
“The competition was a lot tougher this year with more people competing and to a higher standard of gymnastics, with our coach being deployed made it even more difficult. “It was such an amazing feeling coming second in the country in my age category, after narrowly missing out last year
and for the team to get gold for two years in a row.” CPOPT McCormick said: “Becoming the National Champions in 2016, our first year of competing, put us under immense pressure to retain the title. “This year, we suffered setbacks due to key personnel being deployed, but I am immensely proud of the team for their perseverance and commitment in training. “In the true spirit of the RN, the team came together to work on new routines, coaching and mentoring the newest members to the team, in preparation for the British Championships. “The team excelled this year, with four Individual National medallists, and two Team National Medals, where we retained our British National Champions Title. “As the newest sport in the RN, we continue to grow and perform above our competition on the national circuit, which is testament to the dedication and commitment of the team. “For RN Gymnastics to be the No 1 team in the country for the second year running is something we are all proud of.” The Royal Navy Gymnastics Association, which has training venues across the country, is open to males, females, regulars and reservists in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. Anyone wishing to join should visit the Royal Navy Gymnastics Facebook page.
Peru take honours BRITANNIA Royal Naval College Football Club faced a strong Peruvian Navy side in a friendly fixture arranged during the country’s sail training ship’s visit to the UK. The Peruvian Naval students travelled to BRNC from London where the four-masted tall-ship BAP Union was berthed for a six-day visit. Despite the absence of many of BRNC’s first team due to training commitments, the match started well but it was goalless at half time. The second half kicked off with some fresh legs and the BRNC team again started strongly. But despite the renewed efforts, the Peruvians took the lead and five minutes later the visitors extended their lead with another goal. The game ended with a 2-1 win for the Peruvian side, who it transpired were the South American Naval Academy fútbol champions. The BAP Union is the second tallest sailing ship in the world
Tiny record ROYAL Navy indoor rower WO1 Tiny Nash has set another British record for his men’s heavyweight 50-59 age group. The HMS Temeraire man rowed a time of 1 hour 15mins 24.5 secs for a half marathon. The record was set with an average pace of 1 min 47.2 secs per 500m at 26 strokes per min and now sits alongside his earlier similar achievement for 6,000m. Having won a bronze over the iconic 2,000m distance at the World Indoor Rowing Championships in Boston, USA, in February, Nash will be looking to further improve his performance levels at a range of races and distances up to 10,000m during the forthcoming race season.
Kitesurfers enjoy swell time in Spain NO sporting trip is complete without an ‘on the bus – off the bus’ faff, and Spain didn’t disappoint, writes Lt Nick Horne, a member of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Kitesurfing Association. The pre-booked bus service company was caught off guard that a group of military kite surfers would be bringing along a lot of kit. But once at the hotel, the team wasted no time in unpacking the kite kit and heading down to the beach. The team pushed out onto the water with much vigour. The wind was good but had an off-shore element to it which necessitates rescue boat service cover. Curious to see how it is possible to rescue a kitesurfer with 25m of lines dangling in the water, attached to a large kite in windy conditions on a jet ski; I didn’t have to wait long to get my answer. In fact the team collectively were rescued 12 times after various equipment breakages, over-egged backroll attempts and general enthusiastic riding. There was a mix of abilities in attendance,
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Lt Cdrs Chris Hughes, Tom Weaver and Tim Anderson were out to ‘smash a back roll straight off the beach’ with some entertaining, but in the end, successful results. Lt Cdr Matt Longman, WO Tabbs Tabbenor RM, Lts Helen Dobbs and Rory Force made huge steps in their riding and jumping skills, as well as gaining instruction on how to ‘go big’ when jumping from CSgt Trevor ‘Trevs’ Calvert RM. The majority of kitesurfers use a twin tip board that enables the rider to sail in either direction and allows for a vast array of tricks and aerial manoeuvres; however, Surg Cdr Andy Nelstrop ditched the twin tip for most of the week and instead was riding a surfboard (AKA a directional). Riding the directional allows for a more surf style ride, using waves and chop to carve up the beach break. I also chose to put down the twin tip for a lot of the week in favour of trying to learn to ride a foil board. This style of board is another directional, but comes up out of the water to glide about
a metre above it, much like the Americas Cup yachts. This style of riding allows for much faster speeds (up to 2.5 times wind speed). Graceful learning it was not! But by the end of the week I was able to ride up and down wind. Heading up the club was Cdr Henry Merewether, who spent a lot of his time keeping a watchful eye out and ‘counting in the planes’ after each rescue from the jet skis. All in, the team had a fantastic week of training in an excellent location and the fivestar hotel experience really set it off nicely. The club looks in good shape to ‘take it to em’ at the Inter-Service competition later this year. Anyone wishing to give kitesurfing a go can enquire or sign up to the club, which provides training opportunities, grassroots weekends, trips and meets as well as kit that can be borrowed. Contact Wesley Langley at rnrmkaevents@gmail.com or check the RNRMKA Facebook page. SEPTEMBER 2017 : 45