TWO of Guernsey’s rising stars performed well at the weekend’s inaugural UK School Games in Glasgow. The competition was designed to prepare the country’s top young talents for what it will be like at the 2012 London Olympics.

The Games comprised five sports: athletics, swimming, gymnastics, table tennis and fencing.

Both swimmer Jeremy Osbourne and athlete Kimberley Gleeson, in the long jump, earned fifth-placed finishes in their respective events.

Representing the South-West of England in the 50m freestyle, sprint specialist Osbourne was just outside his personal best with a time of 25.54sec. Daniel Scott, of Scotland South and East, came first in 24.48.

‘I’m sort of pleased,’ said the 16-year-old Elizabeth College student.

‘I wasn’t really expecting too much because I’ve just started the season but I’m happy with the result.

‘My relay team came second, so I was happy with that.’

In the men’s open 400m freestyle relay, the England South-West team with Osbourne took silver in a tight final. England South-East took gold in a time of 3-38.31, while the South-West were close behind in 3-38.96 to be followed by Scotland South and East on 3-38.99.

Representing the South-East region, Gleeson earned her fifth place in the long jump with a best of 5.28m. All the 15-year-old La Mare de Carteret student’s jumps were over 5m.

Northern Ireland’s Hannah Lewis took gold with 5.69.

‘If I had jumped my personal best, then I would have come second,’ said Gleeson.

‘I was pleased all my jumps were consistent but I was hoping that I would jump better.’

Gleeson thrived in the competitive environment that was created to mimic the Olympics.

‘It was really good,’ she said.

‘All the jumpers went over five metres as each person was best in their region. It was a really good experience and it was really professionally done.

‘It had all the aspects of what would happen in the Olympics.’