In line with the unique approach of the King’s Baton Relay, Barbados developed its own Baton, enhanced by the Fine Arts Department at the Barbados Community College. Their design gave the Baton a distinctly Bajan identity.
Environmental action launched the visit, as volunteers joined a beach clean-up at Long Beach, Christ Church, on 30 March, also the International Day of Zero Waste. Organised with the Caribbean Youth Environment Network and the British High Commission Bridgetown, the clean-up brought together students, athletes, and diplomats.
Over the course of two hours, volunteers, including weightlifting athlete Daniel Griffith, gathered an assortment of litter, from flip-flops to car seat parts, carefully leaving natural elements untouched. Afterwards, they shared breakfast on the sand.
Later, a small team of divers, including former national athletes, descended into Carlisle Bay, Bridgetown to remove waste from around the reefs and shipwrecks. Most of the debris consisted of glass bottles from passing boats. One diver recalled a past recovery, a lost pendant holding a mother’s ashes, found 90 feet below the surface.
The main relay took place on 31 March, beginning at State House and ending at the Olympic Centre at the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex. Her Excellency Dame Sandra Mason, President of Barbados, passed the Baton to 85-year-old Anton Norris and 13-year-old triathlete Zajara Layne to set the relay in motion.
Norris, a celebrated figure in Barbados' sporting history, won bronze in the high jump at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Perth. It was a milestone moment: the first Commonwealth Games medal ever won by a Barbadian in a sport other than weightlifting, and the nation's first bronze medal. He repeated the feat in 1966 at the Games in Kingston, securing a second bronze in the same event.
Their symbolic handover marked the start of a 12-kilometre journey through Government Hill, Wildey, and the Barbados Community College, supported by 160 schoolchildren, 28 athletes, and nine teachers.
Barbadian Paralympian Antwahn Boyce-Vaughan, swimmer that took part in the Paris 2024 Paralympics, carried the Baton on the final leg of the route walking into the entrance to Commonwealth Sport Barbados.
The day concluded with a cultural presentation by 100 students performing traditional Landship manoeuvres which are naval-inspired dances unique to Barbados.
Rooted in the 1800s, the Landship blends ceremonial drills with storytelling, echoing the motion of ships at sea through choreographed steps and formations. Though its ranks and uniforms mirror the British Navy, the rhythm is distinctly African, brought to life by the beat of a tuk band, a vibrant trio of bass drum, kettle drum, and pennywhistle. With its infectious tempo, the tuk band is as much a call to dance as it is a symbol of Barbados’ cultural fusion.
On 2 April, the Baton returned to the Garfield Sobers Complex for a day of sports engagement. Local athletes and community members representing basketball, netball, road tennis, swimming, tennis, and volleyball had the chance to hold the Baton and connect with the Games’ spirit.
Barbados’ leg of the relay reflected the island’s enduring connection to Commonwealth values: inclusion, sustainability, and cultural pride. From shoreline to seabed, classroom to court, the Baton’s passage stirred excitement, unity, and anticipation for what lies ahead in Glasgow.
