By Casey OÇonnor
The Southern Downs will punch well-above its weight during the next 10 days as the Birmingham Commonwealth Games gets into full-swing.
The region will be represented at the games with a mix of experienced campaigners including Allora’s athletics star Matt Denny and Sevens competitors Demi Hayes and Charlotte Caslick and international new-comer Stanthorpe’s swimming star Ben Armbruster.
Armbruster and his teammates have been training in France getting a firsthand taste of things to come not only in Birmingham but in the Paris Olympics in 2024 according to his Stanthorpe coach Gail Smail.
Smail said the young swimmer had “settled into the village like a veteran”.
“He was very excited to arrive and find his Australian kit waiting for him in his room,” she said.
Armbruster, who will swim the 50 metre backstroke gets his first taste of competition at the highest level when he swims the heats on Sunday night at 7.30pm.
A planned trip to Birmingham by his family and coach was stymied when his mother Shannon became ill. Instead, his support group will be setting up camp at home in Stanthorpe surrounded by plenty of green and gold as they watch the unfold on a big screen.
When Armbruster stands on the blocks representing Australia there will be no-one prouder than his long-time coach, Gail Smail. Smail nurtured Armbruster’s career as a youngster with potential to the point where he was, as a late teen, ready to take his swimming to the next level and remains his close confidant.
Allora’s Matt Denny has been training in America in preparation for the Field events – Discus and Hammer Throw.
Denny finished on the podium with a Silver medal in the Hammer Throw and finished fourth in the Discus at 2018 Games on the Gold Coast while he fell just 5cm short of claiming a bronze medal in discus at the Tokyo Olympics.
All eyes will be glued to the screen as the Allora product tries to improve on his past results. He is rated in the top 10 Australian medal chances in track and field at the Birmingham Games.
In Rugby Sevens, Charlotte Caslick and the Australian Women’s Sevens team are looking to avenge a miserable Tokyo Olympics campaign and a shock loss in the gold medal game at the Gold Coast in 2018.
Caslick has strong family links to the Stanthorpe area and now runs a cattle property in the district with her fiancé. Earlier this year she was named the Pearls co-captain alongside Demi Hayes.
Hayes also has links to the district. Although born in Mt Isa, she spent her childhood on a property at Glenmorgan just outside Warwick before going to boarding school in Toowoomba.
Like Caslick, Hayes made her way to Rugby Sevens via an outstanding career as a Touch Football player.
The dynamic pair have been at the centre of the re-emergence of the Australian Rugby Sevens who were in scintillating form throughout the HSBC Series which they won.
The team goes into the Commonwealth games with a strong mix of youth and experience and high expectations.
The Australians are in Pool B along with Fiji Scotland and South Africa and play their opening game on 29/7 (UK time). The final will be played on 31/7 and the Charlotte, Demi and the Pearls will be doing their best to be there.
