British Championships

The 2017 British Under 16, Under 18, Senior and Masters Finals took place in the spectacular Echo Arena in Liverpool.  It was the biggest championships ever in the history of British Gymnastics with a staggering 15,835 spectators watching over 3 days of the very best gymnasts competing from Great Britain. Woking Gymnastics Club had 5 gymnasts competing in 2 different age categories.

On Friday 24th March the Under 16 age category took to the podium.  Woking’s Jasper Smith-Gordon and Fraser Griffiths were competing in their first ever British Championships in Liverpool.  Jasper and Fraser got off to a nervous start both falling on their first 2 apparatus.  However they both settled into the competition and started to show what they could do.  Jasper performed some lovely clean routines to finish 7th and Fraser finished 11th.  Fraser performed a lovely Rings routine collecting an impressive bronze medal.  Both gymnasts gained valuable experience and their future looks bright.

Saturday 25th March saw the Under 18 take centre stage and Woking had 3 times British Champion Jamie Lewis competing alongside Lorenzo Carrozzo and Timothy McCarthy.  Jamie performed amazingly under great pressure from Donell Osbourne and Joshua Nathan from the City of Birmingham.  Jamie was crowned British Under 18 Champion scoring 80.10 and collected Gold on Floor and Pommels and Silver on Rings, Parallel Bars and High Bar.  Jamie also qualified for 5 Masters Finals (the most of any British gymnast). 

Jamie said in an interview after: “It feels amazing. When I first started I was a bit nervous but I got my first piece done which I was very happy with which relaxed me. I was really happy with my floor today, and I’m happy to come out on top. It was really close (the competition). We push each other quite a lot in training and at competitions but I just thought to myself, I’ve got to keep my head up, concentrate on what I’m doing and just focus.”

Lorenzo unfortunately counted a number of falls but still managed to finish a very creditable =6th with a score of 69.05.  Tim only competed on 4 apparatus due to injury and performed well finishing 5th on Parallel bars and 7th on Pommels.

Next year Jasper, Fraser, Jamie and Lorenzo will compete in their respective age groups again and they will no doubt be bringing even more medals back to Woking!

On Sunday 26th March the British Masters Championship took place, where the Top 8 gymnasts from all 3 age categories compete to become British Apparatus Master.  Jamie Lewis after his impressive performance on the Saturday in the Under 18 age group had a busy day!!  He performed brilliantly collecting the Bronze on Floor, 5th on Pommels (with a fall), 8th on Rings, 7th on Parallel Bars and 4th on High Bar narrowly missing out on a medal by 0.05.
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Congratulations also goes to Craig Woodhams on achieving his Brevet Judging qualification (Category 3) on his first attempt.  Craig scored an amazing 97% ranking him 3rd in Great Britain and looks to have a bright future travelling the World as a British Judge!