Guildford Spectrum played host to the Advanced, Bronze, Silver & Gold competition on Sunday 30th June, welcoming gymnasts from all across the South East region. 24 of our Floor & Vault squad were entered to compete across 3 rounds and all performed to a very high standard.

Round 1 set the bar high with some very impressive performances. At Advanced level, Jamie Simons won bronze in her category and at Silver level, so did Olivia Kraus. A strong showing from Matilda Swift at the Advanced level meant she finished in 7th place, closely followed by Brogan Barrott and Lexi Freeman. Maia Harmsworth, Ada Hanif, Isla Hanif and Josie Prince all also competed well at Advanced, narrowly missing out on top 6 finishes. The Advanced boys showed great composure as they took the maximum number of medals on offer. Rhys Samuel topped his group to win gold, followed closely by Max Pittard in second and Charles Dadswell in third, whilst Jack Dadswell won gold in his category.

Round 2 marked the start of our Bronze and Silver competition. Eleanor Whitaker put in a strong performance to earn sixth place, narrowly missing the qualification score for the Silver level. Leo Bontempo got bronze in his Silver category as did Ella Davies in hers, with Riley Morris and Esme Finch close behind.
​
In round 3, our Bronze competitors Toby Spencer and Roisin Fellowes finished in 1st and 5th in their respective groups. In the Silver competition, impressive performances from Kate Lee and Alexandra Mulvey resulted in 3rd place finishes in their respective groups. Amy Smith excelled to finish in second in her group, with Olivia Pearson close behind.

Woking had eleven gymnasts competing across five different age groups. In the U9 competition James Fricker finished 4th scoring 65.500. Ben Porter picked up an impressive haul of 7 medals (2 Gold, 4 Silver and 1 Bronze), finishing second AA with a total of 76.250. Harrison Lamble was 7th AA (70.850) earning himself a bronze medal on the vault. There wasn’t much to separate the remaining Woking gymnasts – Jay Coote 8th (70.600), Hayden Blackmun 10th (69.950) & Max Veo-Creek 11th (69.900).
​
In the afternoon session, Josh Porter and Sarp Orbay were competing in the U14 category. Despite mistakes Josh finished 2nd AA with 68.700, picking up a further 5 apparatus medals, most notably gold on pommel and h-bar. Teammate Sarp scored 61.600 to finish in 3rd AA, he too collected a number of apparatus medals including a silver for his P-bar routine. In the U16 competition Rudi Moriano finished second AA (63.200), earning an additional four apparatus medals (Silver on floor and vault, P-bar and H-bar Bronze). Also competing in the U16s Charlie Rose performed on just 4 apparatus; he completed all his routines without falls and was rewarded with three silver medals. Finally in the U18’s James Miller put in some consistent performances to finish third on every apparatus and earn the bronze AA with a score of 66.150.

Nine of our youngest Floor and Vault squad members took part in the Key Steps competition which took place on Sunday 2nd June 2019. For many it was their first time competing for the club but it certainly wasn’t obvious from the standard of routines that they produced.

Round 1 saw four gymnasts step up to compete in their first major competition for the club. Clara Firth impressively topped her group to win gold, whilst Ferdinand Swift, Babak Adl and Sam Adl locked out the podium positions in their group, taking gold, silver and bronze respectively.
​
In round 2, Georgina Baddock and Bella Shafiq carried on from where the others had left off in round 1, showing off excellent routines to finish with gold and silver in their category. The boys also impressed, with Declan Freeman winning gold and Emmett Ashley silver in their group, whilst Jan Zaczynski finished 5th in a very close group.

​Saturday began with the junior competition. Woking’s Sarp Orbay was entered into the U14 category, this was his first time competing on all six apparatus in Great Britain. Despite mistakes on Vault and Pommels, he gave a good account of himself finishing in 12th place (61.350). In the U16 competition Rudi Moriano placed 6th AA (64.400), picking up a bronze medal on the H-Bar. Charlie Rose competed on just four apparatus, winning a silver medal for his well-executed pommel routine.

With Sunday came the turn of the U9’s. James Fricker was Woking’s sole representative in this category. He put in some consistent performances to finish 7th AA. In the U10 competition Ben Porter put together some great performances to finish 2nd AA with 76.100. He added to his medal haul with golds on Floor and Rings, a Silver on Pommels and a Bronze medal on vault. Max Veo-Creek produced six clean routines to finish in 13th (70.150). Harrison Lamble (16th, 69.800) had a mixed day, but he put out some new skills and was rewarded with a silver medal for his Tsukahara on vault. Jay Coote successfully performed his double back from rings and Tsukahara vault for the first time in competition, finishing 18th (68.950). Team mate Hayden Blackmun was just 0.05 behind, finishing 19th AA with 68.900.
​
Well done to all the gymnasts, and good luck to all those who will be competing at the regional championships next weekend.