"Wrap up son, we're going up north..."
South Tyneside is traditionally a very good competition in that it is at the start of the season, and you generally compete against the best in the country. It is renowned for its prestige, and organisation.
This year we only took 3 partnerships on the 4hour train journey up North. We arrived Friday early evening, and after some technical issues with the hotel, we managed to get sorted and head to the podium training that evening (something we shall be doing a lot more of, at competitions!). This allowed the gymnasts to train on the equipment they'll be competing on that weekend. This was their 2nd training session of the day :)
Saturday morning came, and after (quite a few) hash brown's for breakfast, we headed to the competition venue where our G5 MxP of Yunus & Tara were competing their Balance routine later in the afternoon. Time passed, and their time to shine was upon us. The routine wasn't without its errors, although performed cleanly for the most part, putting them in 2nd place with a score of 26.44... not bad!
The day finished relatively early for a competition, and so we headed back to the hotel to spruce up, and then headed for a 'night on the town'... which consisted of leading the gymnasts to a bowling alley! (They had no idea..). This was the highlight of the weekend. After 10 attacks on the life of the bowling pins, somehow, someway, Coach Peter managed to fend off the likes of Gymnast Mum Goga, beating her by 1 measly point, 119-118!! Literally, the most competitive game of bowling ever witnessed in the history of everything, ever. Gymnasts? Who?
Sunday morning arrived rather suddenly at 6am, as all partnerships were competing on the last day, with our G4 WP of Ashira & Sara up first. They produced a great routine, and finished 5th out of 15 with a score of 26.43, with an execution score of only 0.1 behind bronze! Next up was our recognisable G4 MxP pair of Mika & Natalie, who produced a newly adapted routine, to win the GOLD medal!!! What a great way to start the season. Lastly, Yunus&Tara were back on the floor to compete their final Dynamic routine. Even though they placed first in the dynamic standings with a score of 26.71, they still remained in 2nd place to take home the SILVER medal!! Great weekend.
