On two wheels, in the pool or on the gymnastics floor - it didn't matter which as Island Games newcomers Bermuda surprised the rest of the field with another haul of medals.

A total of 30 medals - 12 gold, 13 silver and five bronze - rocketed the Island into fourth in the 2003 Island Games medal league last night.

And it should be added that Bermuda have a team less than half the size of the top three, Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man, all of whom are fielding at least 200 athletes each and are competing in many more sports than the Island's nine.

The young gymnasts led the way with an amazing nine medals out of a possible twelve in the women's four piece competition - putting Monday's disappointment behind them in the best possible way.

And the cyclists kept the trophy cabinet bursting with Lynn Patchett winning gold in the women's road race, Melanie Claude taking the silver and Julia Hawley helping them to win the team gold.

The men's cyclists couldn't quite match the women's success. Only Geri Mewett and Jean Nicolas Bertrand finished, coming in 14th and 20th respectively.

In the evening the swimmers brought home two golds, three silvers and a bronze in another great evening for Kathy Cowen's young team.

The men's volleyball team defeated hosts Guernsey 3-1 to reach a semi-final match against the Faroe Islands. Later the women's team lost 3-1 to Guernsey and will now play tiny Norwegian nation Hitra in the seventh and eighth play-off match today.

Bermuda's successes had sent ripples around the event and the enthusiasm of the Island team has proved infectious, with athletes from the nine different sports supporting each other.

The gymnasts, after losing gold in controversial fashion, finally proved they were simply the best in the Games.

Kalena Astwood took gold in the women's individual beam, Brittany Repose won silver, and Astwood had silver in the individual vault, followed again by Repose who won bronze.

It was another Bermuda one-two in the individual floor, with Astwood taking gold and Casey Lopes sharing silver with the Isle of Man. The girls took the silver position in the women's team floor and vault.

The Island again dominated the winners' rostrum in the individual asymmetric bars - this time Mornay Piper was in top spot, and it was too close to call for Repose and Lopes who shared the silver.

Astwood said it was the best event she had ever been to.

"It is a lot of fun and we are really happy," she said. "Monday was disappointing but you can't help it."

Coach Walid Mustafa said the girls had to dig deep and compose themselves after losing gold on Monday to judges ruling against their superior skills.

"I am extremely pleased but we didn't anticipate this many medals," he said. "They really convinced some of the doubters of the standards of the girls who may have lost a little bit of faith after Monday.

"This competition pushed them further then they have in the past."

Cyclist Patchett had her team mates to thank for her gold after their overall tactics saw off any potential threat from time trial winner Ann Bowditch of Guernsey, who was five minutes behind at the end.

Silver medallist Claude said their tactics of Patchett and Hawley attacking helped break up the field, but she added it was still a close finish in the 46 mile race around Guernsey's south west coast.

"We are pleased with the way we performed today," said Claude. "It was an exciting finish. I know my team mates have worked so hard so I didn't want to let them down."

Hawley added: "There is no way we would have got the result today if we hadn't worked as a team."

Karl Outerbridge, Kent Richardson and Wayne Scott pulled out of the mens race at different stages.

Team manager Jennifer Hedges was delighted with the performance of all of Bermuda's cyclists.

She said: "They did phenomenally well, I set high goals for the women but they have exceeded them."

Sister swimmers Ashley and Kiera Aitken took bronze and gold respectively in the women's 50m freestyle, Kiera won silver in the 200m backstroke, Anastasia Lau won silver in the 100m breaststroke, Roy Allen Burch took gold in the 100m freestyle and the men's team took second spot in the 400m medley relay.

The men's volleyball team will now play Faroe Islands in today's semi-finals after beating Guernsey 3-1 to finish second in their group.

Coach Jon Gazzard said they had seen the toughest opponents in Saaremaa and could now look forward to competing for a medal with confidence.

"We have come a long way and if we play like we did against Gotland then anything can happen," he said.

For the archers the Island Games is all over after Paul Harshaw, Jeane Butterfield and Irena Peti went out at in the recurve head to head knockout. Harshaw came closest to making the next round with a score of 135 to his opponents 144.

In the table tennis Myron Piper and Peter DeFreitas crashed out of the singles with their heads held high.

Piper was happy, not least because he had taken games off the Channel Island's champion.

"I played well so I am pleased with my performance," he said. "I have just had some training from a coach in Canada and I performed everything he showed me, so that is good."

In the badminton, both Harold Minors and Stephen Wellman lost in the men's singles last 32, and the doubles team had a mixed day, with only Rick Dorush and Ian Wilkie making into the last 16, where they went out.

Today, the basketball team face the Isle of Man as they bid for a medal, the swimmers bid for more glory, there are doubles games for table tennis, and singles and doubles in badminton.

The gymnasts have a practice day for the final contest tomorrow and the men's mountain bikers sail over to neighbouring island Herm for the cross country event.

The road cycling team fly out today for the World B championships in Switzerland.