British Championships 2019
14th - 17th March
Liverpool

U12s
Jamaal Kashim - 58.250 (58th)
Oliver Porter - 67.000 (11th), Bronze medal on P-Bars
 
U14s
Joel Ireland - 59.700 (52nd)
Thomas O'Connor - 60.050 (50th)
Alex Donchev - 65.850 (24th)
Joshua Porter - 67.950 (13th)
 
U16s
Christian Fuoco - 56.850 (39th)
 
U18s
James Miller - 64.850 (26th)
Fraser Griffiths - 70.650 (13th)
Jasper Smith-Gordon - 72.850 (9th), Silver on vault
 
Senior
Lorenzo Carrozzo - 69.450 (21st)
Timothy McCarthy - 71.450 (15th)
Jamie Lewis - 80.950 (3rd)
 
Masters
Floor - Jamie 4th
Rings - Jamie 2nd
Vault - Jasper 4th

From 14th - 17th March, the 2019 British Championships took place at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool. The competition started on Thursday with the U12 category. Woking’s Jamaal Kashim had an up and down day, making a few mistakes to finish with an All-Around (AA) total of 58.250. This was enough for 58th place and he will have gained valuable experience competing in the arena that will host the 2022 World Championships. Team mate Oliver Porter enjoyed a more successful day, he produced a number of high class routines, and battled through his pommel routine. There was a small error in his final routine on the rings meaning he finished just outside the top 10 with an AA score of 67.000 (11th). His standout routine of the day came on the P-Bars where he was rewarded with a 12.450 and a bronze medal.

The evening session saw the start of the U18 competition. In a tough field containing junior European medallists, the Woking trio of James Miller, Fraser Griffiths and Jasper Smith-Gordon held their own. James made a few mistakes throughout the competition and finished in 26th (64.850). Fraser, in his first competition back since injury looked good in places but his lack of fitness showed towards then end, falling on his final dismount and scoring 70.650 (13th). Jasper started with a big routine on floor, and safely made it through the subsequent apparatus without major error until he too struggled with his H-Bar dismount. Jasper was putting out his new vault for the first time and came away with a silver medal on vault, his score of 14.025 was enough to qualify for the Masters Final.  Jasper finished 9th with an AA score of 72.850.

The U14 competition took place on Friday. Joel Ireland enjoyed a good competition at his first British Championships just making a mistake on pommel horse scoring 59.700 AA and finishing 52nd. Teammate Thomas O’Connor was just ahead in 50th place with 60.050. Alex Donchev started the competition with a fall on H-Bar but picked himself up to perform five good routines, including an impressive straight yurchenco on vault, to finish in 24th (65.850). Josh Porter was the top Woking gymnast in this age group, catching his Tkatchev on H-Bar for the first time helped him to an AA total of 67.950 (13th).

Christian Fuoco was Woking’s sole competitor in the U16 age group. Mistakes on pommel and H-bar proved to be very costly as he finished in 39th place AA (56.850). 

There was a big crowd in attendance for the senior competition, with a star studded field containing World and Olympic medallists. Lorenzo Carrozzo, competing for the first time in this age group had a jittery afternoon making a few mistakes. He did however manage to catch his Kovacs on H-Bar for the first time in competition. He finished in 21st place (69.450). Team mate Tim McCarthy started with a stylish P-Bar routine, scoring 12.900. He suffered a fall from the pommel horse tarnishing an otherwise clean competition, he accrued an AA total of 71.450 enough for 15th place. Jamie Lewis was involved in a tightly fought battle for a podium position. Despite errors in his pommel routine, he finished strongly with a good rings routine to take home the Bronze medal AA (80.950). He added to this with a Bronze medal on floor where he beat the current Olympic champion.

The final competition of the weekend was the Masters Apparatus finals. This prestigious event allows the best U18 gymnasts to compete against their senior counterparts. Jamie first featured in the floor final, the current junior European champion on this apparatus he produced a clean routine scoring 13.550, this placed him fourth by way of a tiebreak. There was joy to be had on the rings, where Jamie executed his routine very well and earned himself a silver medal. Unfortunately Jamie injured his foot on his rings dismount and had to withdraw from the High bar Masters Final.  The last final of the day to feature a Woking gymnast was the master’s vault final. Jasper Smith-Gordon safely landed his two high tariff vaults scoring an impressive 14.100. Competing against gymnasts much older than him, he missed out on a medal by just 0.087. 

Congratulations to all the gymnasts and coaches Simon Elliott, Craig Woodhams, Grant Gardiner and Steve Elwood! 

English Championships 
1st – 3rd March 2019
Redbridge Sports and Leisure Centre

U14 Competition (70 competitors)

• Thomas O’Connor – 24th
• Alex Donchev – 26th
• Josh Porter – 31st, Bronze on P-Bars
• Joel Ireland 36th

U18s

• Jasper Smith-Gordon – 5th
• James Miller – 20th

Seniors

• Jamie Lewis – 2nd (bronze on pommel, silver on rings)
• Tim McCarthy – 6th (Louis Smith Pommel Award)
• Lorenzo Carrozzo – 12th

U12s (63 Competitors)

• Oliver Porter – 27th
• Jamaal Kashim – 31st

U16s

• Christian Fuoco – 20th
• Rudi Moriano – 27th
• Charlie Rose – 39th

 
The English Championships is the first major competition in the gymnastics calendar. Woking had a strong representation with 14 boys competing across five different age groups. Friday’s competition began with the U14s, all the boys were trying new routines and will have gained valuable experience. Thomas O’Connor was the top scoring Woking Gymnast finishing in 24th place, just ahead of team mate Alex Donchev (26th). Josh Porter made some costly errors on the H-bar resulting in a 31st place finish but he was delighted to win a Bronze medal on the parallel bars. Joel Ireland was competing in his first ever English championships finishing 36th out of 70 in a tough age group. 

With Saturday morning came the turn of the U18s. James Miller (20th) had a good competition but unfortunately fell on H-Bar and Floor. Jasper Smith-Gordon put in some consistent performances without major error to finish in a very creditable 5th place.

The senior competition featured World, European and Olympic medallists, despite a couple of large mistakes Jamie Lewis proved he is up there with the best of them, finishing in second place. He also took home the bronze medal on pommels and a silver on rings. Tim McCarthy had the competition of his life and finished in a very impressive 6th place. He was also presented with the Louis Smith Pommel Award, this trophy was given for the routine with the fewest deductions on the pommel horse. Team mate Lorenzo Carrozzo was disappointed with his 12th place finish.

Oliver Porter and Jamaal Kashim competed in the U12 category on Sunday, finishing 27th and 31st respectively. In the final session of a long weekend, Christian Fuoco, Rudi Moriano and Charlie Rose took part in the U16 category. Christian was especially pleased to put out his double back on floor for the first time and finished the competition in 20th AA. Rudi (27th) and Charlie (39th – No floor or vault due to injury) were both delighted to make it through their pommel routines without falling.

The boys will all be straight back in the gym this week preparing for the upcoming British Championships. 

The British junior men’s team of Pavel Karnejenko (Notts), Jamie Lewis (Woking), Adam Tobin (Falcons), Jake Jarman (Huntingdon) and Donell Osbourne (City of Birmingham) have taken silver at the 2018 Junior European Championships in Glasgow, narrowly missing out on gold to Russia. 

Jamie Lewis also produced a brilliant all-around performance to take silver, being knocked off top spot with the last routine of the day by Nicola Mozzato of Italy. 

With four gymnasts competing on each apparatus and the top three of those scores counting, the team started on floor with four clean routines. Jamie (13.733) and Pavel (13.500) both impressed, qualifying for the apparatus final in first and sixth respectively.

Moving on to pommel horse, Jamie was again in inspired form, showcasing all of his skill on that apparatus to score 13.833 to qualify in top spot.

Jamie scored 13.533 on rings to finish in fourth, making three apparatus finals in total.

Jamie Lewis said after: "I am really pleased with the results today. We’ve had our ups and downs but we did what we could and we have still come away silver medallists. We’ve been training together for many years and I couldn’t ask for better teammates. Personally I am now turning into a senior level gymnast so I need use this experience to get back into the gym and work hard on upgrading my skills. It will be tough but I am looking forward to the challenge."

Two days later in the apparatus finals, Jamie Lewis won three individual apparatus medals, becoming champion on floor, winning silver on pommel and bronze on rings. 

Having won team and all-around silver on Friday, Jamie returned to compete on pommel first, showcasing his ability as an accomplished pommel worker to score 13.733. That put him in first place, but he was pipped to the title with the last routine of the final by Italy’s Edoardo De Rosa with a score of 14.066.

It was straight over to floor next for Jamie where he completed a clean routine, sticking nearly all of his landings for a score of 13.833. That was enough to see him top the podium.

Jamie was again in action on the next piece having qualified for the rings final. Against tough competition, he took bronze with 13.700 to complete the set during a brilliant morning for himself and GB.

Speaking after, Jamie said: "My landings (on floor) were really nice, and I'm so happy to win gold. I had a nice clean routine on pommel. I was a little shaky but managed to get through it. Rings, I wasn't really expecting too much because the competition was so strong so I was delighted to win bronze. I've got to start pushing my elements up now, and i'll be going away from here working really hard to improve my skills ready for turning senior, because I know it won't be easy."

Well done to Jamie on an extremely successful European Championships and we wish him the best of luck as he transitions to seniors! Also, a big congratulations to Simon Elliott, the Junior Team GB coach and Jamie's personal coach here at Woking. A final congratulations to Craig Woodhams who was selected as a judge at this years event! It was great to see three members of Woking Gymnastics Club representing Great Britain! 

Between Friday the 9th and Sunday 11th February the 2018 English Championships took place in the Redbridge Centre in Ilford.  Woking Gymnastics Club had 11 boys competing over 4 different age groups.

Unfortunately Oliver Porter and Laurence Butler had to withdraw due to sickness and Christian Fuoco because of injury.

On Friday’s competition the Under 12 age group competed. It was the first English Championships for all of Woking’s young gymnasts but they didn’t let the occasion faze them.  Thomas O’Connor performed 6 brilliant routines finishing a brilliant 5th scoring 68.550.  Santo Fuoco executed some clean routines finishing 10th scoring 66.600 and picked up a very impressive bronze medal on Vault.  Alex Donchev did very well finishing 28th scoring 62.50.  Jamaal Kashim performed well with simple routines finishing 43rd scoring 56.050.

Saturday morning saw the Under 18 age category start their English Championships.  Jamie Lewis once again performed some World Class performances and for the 4th consecutive year was crowned English Champion scoring 79.650.  Jamie also picked up a gold medal on Pommels, Rings and Parallel bars.  Lorenzo Carrozzo made some costly mistakes but still finished an excellent 6th place scoring 69.200.  James Miller started off a little shaky but turned it around to finish a respectable 18th scoring 60.700.

On Saturday afternoon Timothy McCarthy competed in the senior age category.  Tim unfortunately hurt his hand in the week leading up to the competition and only competed on 3 apparatus.  Tim performed 3 clean routines finishing 8th on Pommels.

On Sunday Joshua Porter competed in the Under 14 age group.  Josh hit all 6 routines with confidence and style finishing 11th scoring 68.550 and a very impressive High bar routine grabbed him an amazing silver medal.
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On Sunday afternoon the last round of the English Championships saw Woking’s Fraser Griffiths and Jasper Smith-Gordon compete in the Under 16 age group.  Both boys suffered a couple of mistakes but also performed some great clean work with Fraser finishing 5th scoring 69.600 and Jasper 6th scoring 69.350.

It was a brilliant English Championships for Woking Gymnastics Club and a very well done to all the coaches.  It is a great achievement for the boys to do so well across all age groups and shows the depth of quality Woking has.

A strong GB team consisting of Raekwon Baptiste, Jake Jarman, Pavel Karnejenko, Jamie Lewis and Adam Tobin produced a number of impressive routines to claim team silver at the Under-18 International Team Cup in Houston, Texas.The field included the best junior gymnasts from Japan, USA, Australia, Canada, Germany and France.

Jamie claimed three medals including all-around bronze, rings gold and pommel bronze.

Men’s National Coach Andre Popov: "The GB boys have been very good and I’m really pleased with their performances. My congratulations go to all gymnasts, coaches and clubs."

​Congratulations to Jamie’s coach Simon Elliott and to Craig Woodhams for judging at the event.  

On Friday 1st December the British Under 14 ‘Williams Trophy’ took place at the Surrey Sports Park in Guildford.  The 12 very best clubs in Great Britain took part.  Woking had a young team competing with Joshua Porter, Toby Splain, Christian Fuoco, Laurence Butler, Santo Fuoco and Alex Donchev making the team.

The boys performed well finishing a very creditable 5th place scoring 258.650

On Saturday 2nd December it was the British ‘Adams Shield’ competition.  This is a senior age category and Woking had a team with no senior gymnasts; Tim McCarthy, Jamie Lewis, Lorenzo Carrozzo, Fraser Griffiths and Jasper Smith-Gordon.  The guys performed really well finishing 3rd scoring 226.194.

Thank you to all parents and gymnasts that came to support the boys.
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Congratulations to all gymnasts and coaches on what has been a very busy successful year!