Commonwealth Gymnast turned Water Polo star reveals all

“The arena was bigger, the lighting was intense, it was like being on a stage, and the support when the Welsh boys came out was a bit intense to say the least.”

Welsh gymnast, Rob Sansby, describes the Commonwealth arena from a first hand perspective and the experience of competing in a large televised event.

Although he is not aspiring for Rio, he has joined Loughborough’s AU Waterpolo team as a way of “feeding his competitive appetite”. He hopes to venture into pole vaulting later in his sporting career.

As sensational as the Commonwealth Games was, The Epinal was also interested in the action from behind the scenes.

What was it like in the Athlete’s Village?

Amazing, everyone was so supportive of each other, we felt close as a team.

We weren’t kept separate, in each block of apartments there was a number of different sports.

Although previously not many sports had mixed together, everyone got on really well.

Large amounts of condoms were imported for the Athletes Village during the Olympics, a stereotype has now  been built surrounding what happens once a competition has finished.

Can you elaborate?

[laughs] It’s not to the extent of what people think it is… I don’t know what jonnys got used for at the Olympics, but there’s very much a party atmosphere after competition has finished.

The stereotype is a bit far fetched but everyone got on really well. Effectively you can make of the athlete’s village what you want to make of it.

What was a highlight of the Athlete’s Village?

The food hall. It was unbelievable and 24-hours.

After competition was finished, the fact you could come in from a night out at 06:00 am and have a full breakfast… nothing beats getting in from a night out to unlimited steak.

Who really celebrated once competition was over?

Swimmers from all nations have a reputation for partying hard and they didn’t disappoint.

How did your team celebrate?

After the whole team had finished competing, we went out into Glasgow with a lot of other finished athletes and other members of Team Wales.

We just went out and had a really good time.”

What was the most surreal moment?

Possibly being in the VIP area of clubs with people I’ve only ever seen on the TV.

Which nation had the hottest males/females?

The hottest females I saw whilst there were Kylie Minogue’s backing dancers at the closing ceremony.

Which particular country did you get on well with?

New Zealand, Australia and Canada. We’ve known each other from past competitions and they celebrated as hard as we did.

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