In the East, in the West – Esprit are the best!

First published 5 July 2005

It was a very busy weekend for the champion gymnasts of the Esprit Academy of Gymnastics & Trampoline last Sunday, 3 July, as both the Rhythmic and Artistic gymnasts were at major tournaments. The Rhythmic girls were in the East at the Spelthorne ‘tournament for all’ in Middlesex, whilst the Artistic girls were in the West at the ‘Wiltshire Levels’, Melksham.

Both competitions see the finest gymnasts available compete and as usual the Esprit gymnasts excelled, winning more than 23 medals between them. In Melksham the day got off to a flying start with Jessica Shimwell stunning the crowd with a fantastic set of performances to win the Level 4, under 9 category and the overall championship to boot. This was followed by Ellie Barrett, Victoria Sutton & Erin Milroy gaining 3rd, 4th & 5th overall in level 4, under 10. Next up was Carla Williams and Daisy Rolt who secured a very impressive Gold and Silver respectively in the Level 4 under 11 group. These two fine performances were then matched by an ecstatic Emily Upshall, who turned in a well-deserved Silver for her performances in the Level 4 under 12 section.

The afternoon sessions carried on where the girls in the morning left off and Courtney Hows not only won Level 3 under 11, she took the overall Level 3 championship as well, mirroring Jessica’s achievement from the morning session. Georgia Clements, Hannah Curtis and Matilda Meers then rounded off an incredibly successful day by winning Silver, Bronze and 6th places respectively in Level 5 under 10.

Coach Katy Smith said “all of our girls were competing new skills for the very first time and some had only just perfected brand new routines for this important competition, for them to come back with such impressive results, against the best gymnasts around, is a fantastic achievement, we are all very proud of them, they deserve a great deal of praise for their efforts”.

While all of this was going on Esprit’s other squad, the rhythmic girls, were putting on an equally impressive performance on the opposite side of the country in Middlesex. Alicia Veveris was 1st in Free and 3rd in Hoop, Maya Lucas won Gold in both Free and Hoop and Harriet Evans was on top of the world after not only winning a well deserved Gold in both the Free & Hoop sections was awarded the best performance for an under 10 novice. Bethany Reeve won Silver in her Free, whilst Ella Bradley won the same for her hoop routine. The day was then rounded off spectacularly with Ellie Mcquade taking Bronze in Hoop, Rowan Gregg Gold in Clubs, Scarlet Rolt Gold and Kate Faulkner Bronze in the Hoop section.

Deb Hows, head of Rhythmic coaching at Esprit said, “you always know the Spelthorne ‘competition for all’ will be tough and can never perform at anything other than your best and from our youngest 7 year old gymnasts, competing or the very first time, to our oldest girls, all did just that. To have both groups of gymnasts competing at opposite sides of the country and winning medals in everything they entered makes all those connected with the club extremely proud. I cannot praise the gymnasts enough they are true professionals as well as being excellent role models and extremely nice, well-mannered young ladies. They are a pleasure to teach and I am sure you will continue to hear a lot more from these talented young athletes over the coming months and years ahead”.

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