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FREEMAN HEART & LUNG TRANSPLANT ASSOCIATION REGISTERED CHARITY 700730 |
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A Review of the Edinburgh Games 26th - 29th July 2007
Our Team consisted of 30 competitors (was 35 but 5 became unwell or injured) and 22 supporters (that I know about). We had 9 debutants in our (adult) Team this time, namely Craig O'Neill, Hannah Pudsey, Gill Hollis, Shona Stewart, Eveline Jelstrom, Allen Hodgson, George Mackey and our 2 'foreigners' Mikey O'Dwyer and Rosie Fitzgerald form the Republic of Ireland. Shona is in fact Irish too but currently lives in Edinburgh. All of the competitors having had either a heart transplant or a lung transplant at the Freeman hospital in Newcastle. The age range of the team was from 19 - 76. I look forward to welcoming more Irish Freeman members to our team at future events. Rosie and Mikey were a breath of fresh air to the team and will, I hope, spread the word over the water.
Everyone passes on their best wishes to Judith, Graeme, Mick, Martin and Lynda and hope they are back competing very soon. This is still the most in the Team since I have been involved and we were the largest team taking part, which is fantastic news. If you missed out this time but would like to take part next year in either the British, 7th - 10th August in Sheffield or the European Games, 21st - 25th June in Vichy, France please get in touch and I will add you to our ever growing list of possibles, probables and definites.
The majority of the Team stayed in the fantastic Ten Hill Place hotel in the city centre close to the Royal Mile and I definitely feel it helps bond everyone together and makes for a good atmosphere among our disparate group. Yes, the campus was very good this time but the hotel offers a different sort of comfort and the price difference is minimal with the bonus being the city centre location. I am sure it is something we will continue to do, although the opportunity to stay on campus is still available for those that prefer it. Thursday 26th July 2007 - Day 1 The team had won it's first gold and silver medals before the opening ceremony courtesy of Sue Wrightson in the archery and Adrian Woodcock in the squash which was a brilliant way to begin what were to become the Freeman's most successful Games ever. All the athletes gathered in Parliament Square at the top end of the Royal Mile before marching down The Mound into Princes Street Gardens for the opening ceremony. Monica Clarke, Frankie's sister, read the competitor's oath and our own Stuart Kaye brought in the torch and following some ordinary speeches and an appearance by Sir Jimmy Saville (he attended the first Games) the Games were declared open. We were treated to some Scottish dancing by youngsters from Dunbar who were followed on stage by three guys who bounced about, spun around and did strange things to loud rap music which as far as I know was not typically Scottish
Despite the rain the Opening Ceremony was very enjoyable and the residents and tourists in Auld Reekie knew we had arrived. Accompanied by Mrs Boggy and my 3 Irish competitors (one lives in Edinburgh) we attended the civic reception in the City Chambers which was excellent. A Scottish piper played as we entered the chamber. Our chairman Christine Evans is an excellent speaker and she did not disappoint. Awards were presented to commemorate 30 years of British Transplant Games and all recipients were suitably chuffed, which was nice. Friday 27th July - Day 2 Loads of events all over the place today with The Games definitely in full swing. We had winners in the fishing, 10 pin bowling and badminton thanks to John Harrison, Hannah Pudsey, Adrian Woodcock and Alan Hodgson respectively. Hannah was making her debut in the adult team and it is great news that she is another of our young 'uns who are coming into the Team to join Kaylee, Lynda, Rosie, Jamie and Craig. We would still like more to join in though. As for me, it was off to the majestic setting of Prestonfield Golf Club to see if I could win a medal for the first time since 2002 when I won the event. Golf is my passion and as everyone knows it is probably the hardest competition to win because scores can vary by anything up to 20 shots from one round to the next. Only three of us managed sub 90 rounds, Ian Hillier the best golfer by far this season won the title for the first time and thoroughly deserved his victory to claim the Sean Orpen trophy. Ian dedicated his win to Ian Lewis-Jones his fellow Welshman who tragically died when we were playing cricket for GBTCC down in Somerset in May. ILJ was the lowest handicapped male golfer in our squad and will be much missed by all of us. Glenn Weston took the silver medal and I claimed bronze. To finish third in such a large field against the finest golfers in the UK makes me a happy bunny and I am delighted with my medal. The (under 18 hcp) Stableford comp was won by John Barnes, silver medal Andy McGarry and bronze medal winner was Jeff Sutton. He is obviously a better golfer than he is map reader (!). In the 19 - 28 hcp Stableford category Irishman Andy Weir took gold, Declan Logue silver and the Freeman's 74 year old Irishman David Robinson bronze. David was making his 17 consecutive appearance in the Games and this was the third medal he has won. His wife Beverly always accompanies David and it is always a pleasure to see them both. They do fantastic work in Northern Ireland and founded the Northern Ireland Transplant Association (NITA) which offers much help to those of you over the sea in NI. My doubles partner Rachel Reynolds won the ladies gold medal and Gill Hollis form the Freeman took silver. This was a great achievement by Gill in her first Games as she has been a little unwell of late. The craic in the clubhouse following the golf was excellent as were the speeches. Ronnie Corbett who is a patron of Prestonfield Golf Club and 1¼ inches shorter than Frank Clark was good value and very funny. Christine Evans as always was good and all in all I reckon it was the best day's golf I have experienced in my time as a transplant golfer at the British Games. Thank you to everyone at Prestonfield Golf Club for hosting the golf and well done Frank.
Meanwhile on the badminton court we had Adrian Woodcock and Allen Hodgson winning gold in the doubles. Allen's wife Sarah told me how nervous and thrilled Allen was at wining his medal which was so unexpected. This is what the Games are all about surely. Other fine performances were put in by Stuart Kaye, Mikey O'Dwyer and Dave Donkin who all won bronze medals. AGM: Hotfoot from the golf club over to Meadowbank and the AGM of the TSUK. In contrast to last year the attendance was very good which has to be good news and should be encouraged. That lots of people left before the end of the meeting so that they could catch the last bus from Meadowbank back to the campus needs to be addressed. Too much talk from the floor should be discouraged and only those sat at the top table should be speaking to the membership and answering questions, unless it is their specialist subject as per the agenda. It was an informative meeting with some interesting new initiatives discussed in order that as a group we can move forward and remain solvent. When it came to 'Questions from the floor' I was able to ask the chairman for an answer to the question I had put in writing last October. That certain people were "not in the room to defend themselves" is irrelevant. My question was legitimately put to the executive of the organisation of which I am a member and I am entitled to an answer. The chairman offered her apologies to the Freeman Team and suggested that satellite events on behalf of the TSUK in future should be organised by and on behalf of the local team. This is how it should be of course and will appear in the minutes of the meeting at next year's AGM. Saturday 28th July - Day 3 As I have no event on the Saturday I become a keen supporter of my team-mates at their respective events. I spent an enjoyable couple of hours at the fabulous facility at Craiglockhart and although I had missed the canoeing featuring our own Stuart Kaye I managed to watch quite a bit of tennis. Adrian Woodcock, Jamie Woodhouse and Rosie all doing well. From there it was over to the Commonwealth pool and an afternoon watching the swimming. It was good to see so many Freeman swimmers taking part and next year we should be able to cobble together a relay team. Wor Rosie from the island of Ireland won a gold and silver medal and we are all 'geet' proud of her. Claire Egan, Terry Woods, Rob Hodgkiss, Brian Knox, Mikey O'Dwyer and Allen Hodgson all giving excellent performances. Once young Lynda Morrison is back with us we will have a good squad of swimmers. Unfortunately I was told the bowls had finished otherwise I would have popped next door to Parkside Bowling Club to watch. Malcolm Pollitt (bronze medal), Sid Lamb, George Mackey and John Harrison all taking part. The bowling club have been marvellous supporters of the Games and I enjoyed a cuppa on Friday afternoon chatting away to folk and picking up some useful gossip. Unofficial gossip - A little birdie tells me that as a consequence of the tragedy that befell ILJ all heart transplant competitors will have to undergo either an angiogram or angioplasty before being eligible to compete next year. Time will tell how good my information is. Saturday evening brought a new concept and is a brilliant idea from John Timms of MLS, who have organised such a successful Games. Out near the airport at Ingliston, the Royal Highland Showground was the venue for the Donor Run. Supporters and club runners running alongside Games competitors was a huge success and very enjoyable. I am not certain how many actually took part, but there were a canny few. Having competed at the Australian Transplant Games I can tell you that they involve supporters and donors in this type of event and it too is always very well attended. We had Susie Wood taking part and Hannah's dad Dave showing how good a runner he is.
Lynne Holt who as well as being a transplant co-ordinator at the Freeman Hospital was also the Chairman of the LOC for the Edinburgh Games and she and Sue Reynolds, Leicester Team Manager and official kit supplier for the UK Team at the forthcoming World Games, finished the run together. I did take a photograph which I was going to include in this section, but by the time my camera clicked they had both flashed out of shot. Well done ladies. 10pm - back in the hotel and time for some well deserved kip. Sunday 29th July - Day 4 Meadowbank Stadium which has hosted 2 Commonwealth Games and many international athletics events was the magnificent venue for the athletics. In my events, long jump, 100m and 200m I finished 3rd, 2nd and 2nd respectively, so should be pleased with my day's efforts. Exactly 8 years ago to the week I had my heart transplant at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle and little did I suspect that some 8 years later I would leave a major sports venue with 2 silver medals and a bronze and feel a little disappointed. I was defending my 100m & 200m titles but as often happens someone form the younger age group gravitates upwards and I was beaten by the better man. Well done to 'Sammi' who is a class athlete. If it any consolation to me (and it is) he is too young to run against me in this year's World Games in Bangkok, but I do wonder who is lurking on the blocks for me out in Thailand. The highlight of the athletics meeting for me was to see young Craig O'neill who was making his Games debut for the Freeman blast away the opposition in the adult section of the 100m & 200m with times of 12.45sec in the 100m and 26 seconds in the 200m. Craig is such a nice young fellow he deserves everything which will come his way in the next few years. Watch this space. With Craig's speed on the last leg, Stuart Kaye running the bend, me on the back straight and Rosie Fitzgerald from the Republic starting us off we not only qualified for the final but finished a very creditable fourth in the 4 x100m relay. The athletics was organised in a very professional manner and we managed to finish ahead of schedule which allowed everyone plenty of time to head back and get ready for the Gala Dinner. The Gala Dinner
The setting for the dénouement of the Games was the very swish EICC and it did not disappoint. The meal was excellent, as good as I have had and with the Freeman contingent at 43 people, we took up 4 and a bit tables. Another moan coming up.......as all of those present had paid a £10 registration fee it actually means that those supporters who did not avail themselves of the shuttle buses etc in fact paid £38 for their Gala Dinner. A number in our squad came specially for the athletics and Gala Dinner only. Despite promises to keep things moving along some people just cannot help themselves. It would be churlish of me to moan any more because the dinner and the whole evening was a great success. My mate Reg Chisholm, who has management stamped on his forehead, got the night off to a flyer when he addressed the haggis in the traditional Scots manner. He was followed by wee Frankie who apart from not mentioning our two representatives from the Republic of Ireland also deserves the heaps of praise which came his way. Christine Evans our chairman again made an excellent speech and the LOC and staff of MLS all received their justified praise and bouquets. The glam rock band who came on following all of the official stuff may not have been everyone's cup of tea but they knew how to fill a dance floor. Even I was dancing but fortunately no photographs are available. All being well I hope to see you at Remember we will be sending a squad to The Photograph's are the one's from my camera only. Have you got any we can use? If so please send them to me in Jpeg format. Go to the TSUK website and all of the results with times and distances plus 1,000's of photographs are on there. If you wish to use any of this material please acknowledge where it came from. © Graham Marsh
All competitors must be a current member of the Transplant Sports Association of Great Britain (TSAGB). If in doubt contact your Team Manager or Joyce Gill: joyce-and-ian@supanet.com 6 Year membership costs £25 The above subscription rate is under review and will change. Each competitor may enter 5 individual events, with a maximum of 3 from any one discipline with the exception of the relays. A signed and completed medical certificate must be provided. Unfortunately, anyone receiving dialysis treatment is not allowed to enter. The first Games were the brainchild of Maurice Slapak, who at the time was a consultant transplant surgeon. They were staged in Portsmouth in 1978 and attracted 100 competitors. This years event is expected to attract over 500 competitors and as many (at least) supporters. 16 cities have hosted the British Transplant Games since their inception; Portsmouth, Newcastle, Leicester, Leeds, Norwich, Manchester, Cardiff, Birmingham, Exeter, Liverpool, Sheffield, Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast and Bath.
The
TSUK website
has every detail you could possibly wish to know.
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