On Saturday 12 March, the Elite Gymnastics Squad travelled to Stoke-on-Trent to compete in the Milano Trio National Finals. The girls were feeling very excited about representing the London region, as well as feeling quite nervous being a part of such a prestigious competition, especially as for the whole team it was their first time competing on a National stage.
As this was a team event, the girls had multiple routines/apparatus to compete on. The first was vault, where girls had to perform two vaults showing good flight on and off of the vault, as well as a solid landing position. All of the girls showed fantastic vaults to the judges, and even got really positive feedback from one of the judges who was very impressed with the girls’ vaulting ability at such a young age, particularly Eva (5S) who scored a 15.55 out of 16.00. The next rotation was individual floor routines where three of the team had to perform a routine to music, including six acrobatic skills as well as a leap and a spin. The girls have improved so tremendously since their regional qualifier, all of their scores improved quite significantly and they should be very proud of their performances, which showed good technique, execution and character. The final rotation was the group routine, where all four girls had to perform a synchronised routine to music, including five individual skills as well two group balances. The group routine was excellent, and even though there was a small artistic mistake, the girls performed the routine just as they had been practising. Once again, they showed significant improvement in their performance and timing.
After a long morning of waiting, the results came in: the girls placed 6th out of a possible 20; a hugely respectable result considering the little competition experience and after a small mistake. Although in 6th, the girls only finished two marks behind 3rd place. Well done to all of the team for training hard in the lead-up to the competition and then performing superbly in your first National Final!
On Tuesday 23 March, Eva (5S) and Amber (5F) represented the Elite Gymnastics Squad in the Acrobatic Regional Competition. This event is a qualifying event for the National Finals taking place in May. The Under 11 pair had to perform a two-minute long routine to music, incorporating dance, four paired balances, and three individual skills. In the lead-up to the event, the girls have been working tremendously hard, attending extra morning sessions as well as their usual squad training times alongside the Senior School Scholars.
The girls performed brilliantly at the event, performing with character, synchronisation and good execution. This brilliant performance, together with their hard work and dedication, earnt them the gold medal. Eva and Amber are now heading to Stoke-on-Trent for the Acrobatic National Final in May.
Well done, girls!
Categories: Girls' Prep School Sport