Swallows Gymnasts make the Grade!!! |
| Posted by Gill on Mar 14 2009 |
The Regional qualifiers for the National Grades 8, 7, 6 and 5 were held in Melksham, Wiltshire on Sunday 1 March 2009.
This was the first competition held under the new code and gymnasts from Clubs all over the South West were competing for National Final places.
Competing at Grade 7, The Swallows of Helston entered 11 year old, Shauna Mitchell. This event was Shauna’s first major competition for 2009 and the build up had been extremely demanding. With new routines to achieve and new skills to perform, training had been very challenging.
Shauna coped well with the pressure of high level Regional competition and performed confidently, making no major errors on all 5 disciplines. The scoring was very tough and the judges were not making any allowances for poor work. A large number of gymnasts failed to meet the required standard on the day, but Shauna proved to be successful and passed comfortably, competing against some excellent gymnasts. Shauna was ranked 15th overall with her best performance on Range & Conditioning in 7th place.
Competing at Grade 5 was 16 year old, Naomi Dommett. With pressures of AS level exams looming, and just having had a week’s holiday, and therefore out of the gym, Naomi made a safe performance overall. After a shaky start on Range & Conditioning, Naomi knew that she had to pick herself up to ensure that she reached the required score to pass.
At the end of the competition, Naomi managed to win a bronze medal overall and was selected to represent the South West region at the National Finals to be held at Cocks Moor Leisure Centre in Birmingham in April. Naomi will now travel with gymnasts from Newton Abbot and Plymouth to make up the Grade 5 team from the region.
A fantastic result for both gymnasts and the Club wish Naomi all the very best for her competition in April.
Head coach, Donna Thomas, said, ‘I am delighted with both girls and their performances at the competition. They both handled the pressure of Regional competition admirably and made some strong routines. At the end of the day, having Naomi win through to National Finals was a great bonus. Both gymnasts dedicate many hours to their training and I am so proud of them. No other gymnast from Cornwall managed to meet the required level to pass their grade, so this was a fantastic achievement for the Club and the coaching team. I wish Naomi all the very best in her training leading up to the National competition, and for the forthcoming competition year.
These results come on top of receiving news that 13 year old, Jaron Morgan, will also be competing for the South West at the Men’s Elite Grades to be held in Ipswich at the National Finals. Jaron will be competing as an individual for the region in the Under 14 age group. A special well done to Jaron and the coaches also hope that he enjoys the experience of another National event.’
