A successful weekend in London saw Woking gymnasts take home medals in every age group.

Max Veo-Creek, Jay Coote and Ben Porter were performing in the U14 competition. Max and Jay enjoyed good competitions, both improving on their scores from this year’s British Championships to finish in 30th and 25th place respectively. With a few mistakes and a fall on pommels, Ben was not completely satisfied with his performance. However, winning is a habit and Ben’s successful year continued with a bronze medal on vault, silver on pommels and gold on rings. His total of 72.5 was enough to earn him top spot all around and he was awarded with the coveted Max Whitlock Trophy.

With the afternoon came the turn of the seniors. After a lengthy period on the side-lines, Jamie Lewis was competing for the first time this year. His lack of competition fitness was evident as errors crept in, but he was able to take home a bronze medal on pommels and a silver on rings. Teammates Tim McCarthy and Fraser Griffiths were competing in their final competition in Woking colours. They can both be proud of their performances and indeed their careers as they move onto pastures new.

As one chapter came to an end, another was just starting; Oscar Mitchell was competing in his first major voluntary competition. With a 21st place finish all around, the highlight of his day was undoubtedly his vault; here a stuck landing was rewarded with a bronze medal.

Josh Porter and Charlie Rose demonstrated poise and confidence as they went about their routines in the U18 category. Josh scored over 70 for the first time in a major competition, finishing in 13th place AA he also took home a bronze medal for his H-Bar routine. After many years with our MAG squad Charlie has decided to hang up his guards for the final time. He competed on just two apparatus but was delighted to bow out with clean routines on both Pommels and Rings.
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The final round of competition saw Oli Porter compete in the U16 competition. He showed great maturity to bounce back from a mistake on the pommels and deliver some beautiful routines. He finished the competition with a stuck landing to earn him an all-around PB of 71.85 and a gold medal on the H-Bar. 

On Friday 29th April Ben Porter competed in his first ever International competition for Great Britain.  After being crowned the British Under 14 All-Around champion last month, Ben was selected as a part of the Great Britain team in the prestigious Berlin Cup competition in Germany.

Ben performed brilliantly, especially after uncharacteristically falling on his first apparatus; Pommels.  He dusted himself down and went clean with some amazing gymnastics.  Ben finished 5th All-around scoring 68.50.  He helped the team finish 8th with his mature performances and qualified for 5 apparatus finals the next day.

In the Apparatus Finals on Sunday Ben was given the chance to make up for the Pommel mistake by being placed in the final after a withdrawal.  That meant that Ben now had another six apparatus to compete on again.  Ben was the star of the team in the finals performing like a season professional.  Ben came 2nd on Floor; 1st on Pommels; 2nd on Rings; 1st on Vault; 5th on Parallel Bars; and 3rd on High Bar.

It was an amazing experience and to come away with so many medals is something Ben will never forget!
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Congratulations to Ben, the Great Britain Team and all the coaches.

Sunday the 1st May was a busy day for the gymnasts and coaches in our Men’s Artistic squad at the Regional Championships at Pegasus Gymnastics Club. Our boys had an excellent competition and brought home a total of 40 medals! 8 Bronze, 20 Silver and 12 Gold – 2 of which were all round Champions. All of the gymnasts showed excellent progress since their last competition whether that was Piper’s Vale or the British Championships back in March.

The morning round saw the younger, regional level boys compete in the U9, U10 and U12 categories. Competitive debutant William Middleton did not let any nerves show as he finished 2nd overall in the U9 category with a score of 66.40. He also picked up second place on all apparatus except high bar, where he finished third. In the U10’s, Declan Freeman finished 7th with a score of 65.85, correcting his mistakes on Pommel from the Piper’s Vale competition the weekend before. Whilst he still struggled with his nerves on P-Bars he executed a powerful Vault that lost only 0.45 marks and earned him a silver medal. Fionn Kelly finished above him in 6th place with a score of 66.60 and a solid all round performance. Xavier Barua-Wilding placed 5th with 67.85 and earned himself a bronze on Floor with a clean and stylish routine. Mac Griffiths looked as though he had a real point to prove with some very tidy routines. The best of which was a 12.50 on high bar, the piece he had fallen on the week before, which earned him a gold medal on this apparatus. Mac’s 69.55 overall score saw him finish on the podium in 3rd. In the U12’s Caden O’Shea showed some bravery, adding two new skills in to his routines from the week before. Whilst his Magyar on Pommels didn’t quite go to plan his new tumble on floor helped him to win a silver. He also picked up a silver on high bar, finishing 4th overall with a score of 66.55.

In the afternoon round it was the turn of the older, national level boys who competed in the U12, U14, U16 and U18 categories. U12 gymnast Oscar Mitchell struggled with making the step up to full Pommel, P-Bar and High Bar routines but maintained his composure to finish 2nd on both Floor and Vault and win Gold on the Rings. His overall score of 58.45 saw him finish 4th. In the U14 category Jay Coote managed to pick up a bronze medal on high bar and finished 6th overall on 62.75. Max Veo-Creek had a good competition and showed real courage competing his double back on rings, a skill which he fell badly on at his last competition and meant he had to withdraw from said event. His determination paid off with a 4th place finish and a score of 64.45, picking up a silver on P-Bars on the way. Our only competitor in the U16 category, Oliver Porter, performed extremely well and picked up 6 Apparatus medals – 3 gold, 3 silver – and was the overall champion with a score of 71.00. Oliver’s older brother, Joshua, had just as much success in the U18 category picking up 5 apparatus medals – 2 gold, 3 silver – and he too was crowned as regional champion with a 72.75 overall score. Joel Ireland had a good competition, finishing 3rd overall with 69.60 and picking up gold medals on rings and vault, as well as a silver on floor. Rudi Moriano only competed on 4 pieces, due to an ongoing ankle injury, scoring 46.00 and picking up bronze medals on Pommels, P-Bars and High Bar. A real moment of personal joy was felt by Charlie Rose as he finally nailed his flaired Magyar, Sivado combination on pommels and earned himself the gold medal on this apparatus. An honorary mention also to our gymnast Sarp Orbay who, instead of competing, tried his hand at a spot of judging and did an excellent job alongside some very highly qualified judges on High Bar and Pommels.

Well done again to all of our boys and we look forward to a busy summer of skill development before the next batch of competitions.