Bermuda’s young gymnastics team enjoyed a huge medal haul in their first day of action at the gymnastics portion of the NatWest Island Games, the Inter Island Gymnastics Championship in Anglesey.

The junior boys, junior girls, and senior girls combined to grab a stunning 19 medals, highlighted by a boys team that took gold in their first ever Island Games appearance.

“The boys got us off to a great start. I’m so proud of our first Island Games team and coach Magan Outerbridge’s leadership,” Duke Nelligan, the Bermuda head coach, said.

The young team of Taj Lowery, Max Blakeney, Niyan Outerbridge, and Jaden Malpas scored 48.25 overall, followed by Jersey with 44.9 and Isle of Man third with a score of 42.05.

“Many of the coaches and officials were surprised that we had made that much progress in such a short period of time,” Nelligan said. “The boys will be a force to reckon with in the near future.”

The junior girls team had no problem following up the boys performance, taking their own team gold with a score of 71.75, squeaking past Isle of Man, who scored 71.3. Jersey scored bronze with 68.55.

Chantae Wilson led the way for the girls, taking gold in the vault, bars, and beam and silver in her floor routine. Anna Francoeur took silver in the vault and bars, with T’aja Williams and Jezhari Talbot turning in strong performances to contribute to the gold-medal effort.

“With strong performances from Chantae and Anna we kept the momentum up and took charge,” Nelligan said.

The senior girls squad took silver, conceding the top spot to Isle of Man by an excruciating margin of 0.1 of a point, losing 72.45 to 72.35. Jersey came third at 68.7.

Gabby Vincent took gold on the beam, Sydney Mason came first on the floor, Tabytha Hofheins took bronze on the bars, and Zantae Dill brought home a silver on the floor and bronze on the vault.

The junior boys had no shortage of individual honours, with Lowery and Blakeney leading the charge. Lowery finished with gold on the floor and high bar and silver in the parallel bars and rings, while Blakeney took gold on the parallel bars and rings and bronze in the vault.

“All in all I am very proud of their efforts, both boys and girls. We represented Bermuda with class and great effort,” Nelligan said.

The gymnasts return to action tomorrow in the FIG round, competing for individual medals on each event and in the all-around.