Bowls: Durable bowler the pride of her tiny island

MANCHESTER - At 79, Joyce Dyer is the oldest competitor at the Commonwealth Games. She also claims to be the fittest.

Dyer is the matriarch of the 25-strong team from Norfolk Island, which despite being an Australian territory, will compete independently in Manchester.

It is Dyer's third consecutive Games and this year she has the honour of skipping the women's fours bowls team.

However, there was not much competition for the job, considering there are only 12 women bowlers on the tiny island.

Seven of them are competing in Manchester.

"We just take anybody who can play," said the great-grandmother.

"It's a game that, providing you've got a little bit of know-how about it and a little bit of expertise, it doesn't take long to figure it all out.

"But you've got to be very fit."

Dyer maintains her fitness by playing golf and tennis, riding horses and teaching riding around the 34.6sq km island, 1065km northwest of Auckland.

It boasts a population of about 1900.

"I try not to have any accidents, or if you do you just roll off, but it keeps me fit," she said.

"I may be the oldest athlete but I'm the most fit."

Dyer is not worried about the stresses of competing at the Games, saying her goal is to enjoy herself and help to boost the profile of Norfolk Island.

Asked to predict her island's medal chances, Dyer replied: "We're here to participate.

"We might have a male singles player who might do some good. He's pretty competitive."

The grandmother of seven and great-grandmother of four has been lapping up the atmosphere in the athletes' village and said she spent much of her time informing other athletes of Norfolk Island's exact location.

"It's been wonderful, it's lovely," she said.

Dyer was born in Penrith, in western Sydney, and served with the Women's Australian Air Force during World War II.

She moved to Norfolk Island 32 years ago, where she and her husband ran a hotel.

Lawn bowls has provided Norfolk Island with its only medal since it started sending teams to the Commonwealth Games in 1986.

Carmen Anderson snatched a bronze medal in Victoria, Canada, in 1994.

Anderson, whom Dyer has managed, is a notable omission from this year's team because she now competes in Australia.

Away from bowls, the tiny island must seem very small for 24-year-old marathon runner James Donaldson, whose best time over the distance is 3h 26m.

And the island's two triathletes are forced to train in a 800m-long lagoon.

* Being the only member of St Lucia's table tennis team is making it tough for Adrian Albert to find practice partners.

Luckily, rivals from the neighbouring Caribbean nations of St Vincent and Barbados have taken pity on Albert, 21, and said he can practise with them.

Shortage of money forced St Lucia to cut back its table tennis team at the last minute, and Albert is feeling a little alone.

"I speak to them every day," he said.

"I wish they could be here - we do everything together."

* Niue, population 2000, is one of the world's most isolated and smallest nations and its national anthem is not that familiar to most.

Therefore, there was a scramble when officials at the Games Village realised recordings of Niue's anthem were missing ahead of the team's flag-raising ceremony.

Frantic calls to media organisations finally paid dividends when the BBC located and sent officials a tape of the anthem.

- AGENCIES

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