Teenager Janik celebrates winning gold with Scotland

Edinburgh Reporter

15 hours ago

Edinburgh schoolboy, Eryk Janik, helped Scotland's under-16 shore fishing squad to hook the gold medal in the Home Nations for the first time since 2003.
What's more, the team went into the three-day event in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, with only four anglers instead of five, with one member aged only 12, and including three debutants and under the wing of a manager in his first major competition.
And the youngest member, Franky Hamilton from Angus, aged 12, won his zone on each of the three days.
Gold was achieved despite the boys arriving just before the official opening due to cost, and without any practice at the two nominated venues.
Nuno Santos, the squad's Glasgow-based manager, said: 'It's like a fairy tale. The squad came together only three months ago and, if anybody had suggested we would win gold, then I would have said we had no chance.
'However, the boys and their parents went with it and now look what we have achieved.'
Hamilton plus Janik, who has only one cap, earned last year, Loui Wemyss (Tayside), and Jai McKinney (Ayrshire), faced tricky conditions on the beach for two days at Longfield Wall on the Foyle Estuary and Benone Strand.
Santos, and his assistant, Billy Buckley (Uddingston), who stepped in when the nominated assistant, Sean Baxter, a Cowdenbeath-based tackle shop owner, could not make the trip for business reasons, said: 'The boys were phenomenal.
'They came together three months ago and they listened. We fast-tracked them through, we had practices and they delivered under pressure.'
Going into the prestige event with only four anglers meant the team could not slip up and Santos explained: 'The other teams had five members and so we knew that we could not afford to have a blank or come last in any of the three days, otherwise that would have been it for us.
'However, we won the first day and I told the boys to go out and do their best in Day Two. They did and we came second.
'It was all to play for on Day Three. England and Ireland were close and in with a chance. We knew it would be tough.
'The boys came through and we won all of our zones which was amazing to clinch gold. To be frank, we pulled a rabbit out of a hat here.'
He added: 'The boys were brilliant, they were well-behaved, we had great banter in the squad and this is the first time since 2003 since Scotland last won gold at Junior (under-16) level in the Home Nations.
'I cannot speak highly enough about the group. They learned fast. Franky has only been fishing for about a year, Eryk, Loui and Jai only took up fishing about two years ago, and their hard work in preparing for this has paid off with gold.'
The ladies team won gold in their event for the first time after three silver medals. The squad included Aberdeen-born Buffy McAvoy, formerly from Edinburgh but now living in Glenrothes, plus debutant, Margo Robinson, from Dumbarton, Aussie-born Joanne Barlow from Brighton – she qualifies because of her Scottish-born mother – Gill Coutts from Largs and Lesley Maby (Cumbria).
McAvoy said: 'Well, we've just gone and done it, winning gold.'
Their manager is Kevin Lewis from Broughty Ferry, Tayside, and Robinson is a member of Scotland's ladies carp fishing team and Barlow is a former captain of the carp team.
Lewis confirmed that Coutts won her zone on all three days, an 'amazing' achievement, and Robinson performed well in her first sea fishing international.
He added: 'What can I say as the Scottish ladies manager, we have finally done it and won gold. I'm so proud of the ladies in the way they fished and listened (in the build-up).'
PICTURE: Scotland (left to right): Billy Buckley (assistant manager), Jai McKinney, Eryk Janik, Franky Hamilton, Loui Wemyss, Nuno Santos (manager). Supplied by Nuno Santos.
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