Isle of Man's Island Games medal tally rises to 45

Another 13 medals were added to team Isle of Man's tally at the Island Games in Orkney, with almost half being being picked up in the pool on day four of the action.

Medals were also secured in archery, cycling, badminton and athletics, bringing the total medal haul to 45 and putting the Manx team in fourth position overall.

The island's swimmers added to their collection by clinching first place in the 4x50m mixed medley relay, narrowly beating the Faroe Islands into second place.

Meanwhile, Christa Cain secured her second gold in two events at the games by fending off Orkney's Anna Tait to top the podium in the 5,000m event in Kirkwall.

Cain said she "ran hard" when she secured the top spot in the 10,000m on Sunday, and "wasn't planning on running such a hard race again".

But, after hearing the "roar of the home crowd for Anna", she decided to use it as "ammunition.

"Luckily I had a bit of speed up my sleeve to push on through," she added.

Crossing the finish line in 16 minutes and 43 seconds, the runner said her results so far had been "absolutely crazy, I can't believe it".

Following her success on the track, the Manx athlete said she was "excited" to pull on her road shoes for Friday's half-marathon in Stromness - an event that she has more experience in.

She said the "support and the camaraderie" among the squad at her debut games had been "phenomenal".

The "really strong men and women's teams" would be "giving it their best shot" on the final day of the competition, she said.

Adding to the high jump gold he secured at the start of the week, Regan Corrin claimed silver during Wednesday's long jump final.

Recording a distance of 7.29m, he told Manx Radio Sport he was "dead happy" with the result after he had "cramped up" in the second round so had not been sure if he would be able to continue.

The 18-year-old said the atmosphere at the Pickaquoy Centre has been "amazing".

"You can feel the support, the adrenaline it gives you is mental. It gives you an extra gear that you didn't think you had," he said.

In the pool, Manx swimmers were regulars on the podium on Wednesday, with Harry Robinson adding silver in the 100m individual medley and the 50m butterfly to his record-breaking achievements the previous day.

Teammate Joel Watterson finished a whisker behind in the latter contest to take third place, as well as scoring second position in the 100m freestyle.

Laura Kinley took silver in the 100m breaststroke contest, before being joined by Libby Curphey and Watterson and Robinson to make up the triumphant 4x50m mixed medley relay team.

It was three bronze medals in three days for Manx archer Ethan Moore when he took third spot in the men's compound head to head knockout event.

In cycling Tyler Hannay picked up a bronze medal in the individual road race contest, with the men's team also securing third place on the podium.

On the badminton courts in Kirkwall's Pickaquoy Centre, Jessica Li and Alex Buck became singles bronze medallists, taking team Isle of Man's total on the forth day of action to 13.

Thursday's penultimate day of action sees the Manx football teams compete in the semi-finals of the competition, and the golf, swimming and sailing teams will wrap up their campaigns.

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