Land of the Orange...
It was a competition we thought about attending last year, but decided to miss out. This year, there would be absolutely no FOMO at all (Fear Of Missing Out). Flights booking. Accommodation ready. Lets get going.. BREDA, HOLLAND HERE WE COME!!
We descended on London City Airport with 14 tired heads, and 3 sprightly shepherds. Smooth flight. The gymnasts couldn't get over the fact we received free snacks on the 45min flight. Thanks BA. Much appreciated. Some thought it necessary to somehow have time for 2 rounds of snacks. Yunus. We arrived in Rotterdam and were whisked off to Breda, just under an hour from the airport. No real hiccups.
Arriving at our accommodation, it was everything you'd expect for the amazing price of £65 for the weekend (...you're welcome). Was clean and basic - just what you need for a competition.
Podium training on the Friday went relatively well. You never want an amazing podium session... Doesn't bode well for the following day! Sara (bless her little clean white cotton socks) was doing as much as she could without causing herself too much pain. Poor thing rolled her ankle 4 days prior. Good thing I strapped her up like it was a game of 'pass the parcel' and I wasn't running out of strapping aaaaaaany time soon :-)
Later that evening we had a meal at the Hotel restaurant - plain and simple. Kieran had much to say about the chocolate moose desert which appeared like something out of a survival TV show. But I digress. The gymnasts were well behaved and off to sleep. A couple of instances of locking themselves out of their rooms (including me!!!), but hey, all part of the fun!
Saturday morning saw the routines performed of our 2 MxPs of Sam&Romilly and Mika&Natalie and also our 2 WPs of Clara&Annabel and Ashira&Sara.
What a successful morning it was!!! Clara&Annabel finished 4th which could have easily been 3rd if it wasn't for a small technical rule. Sam&Romilly clinched the BRONZE medal with a very cute and well executed routine. Ashira&Sara pulled off an exciting performance and even with an injured Sara, still came away with the SILVER MEDAL which was only 0.1 off first place. Mika&Natalie once again touched the audience and the judges with their emotional sequence, and came away comfortably with the GOLD MEDAL! All partnerships were competing recently acquired moves, so well done to all.
The afternoon saw our MxP of Yunus&Tara compete. They competed 2 routines and at the BOAC, they allow medals for individual routines as well as overall for the more advanced category. Well, what can we say... These 2 gymnasts destroyed their competition... Smashed them into little molecules!... 3 GOLD MEDALS... (I don't even think they were nervous! I'm pretty sure Tara was reading the Evening Standard half way through her balance routine...)
After the Saturday competition, we attended the dinner party which involved throwing children around. Literally. If you haven't seen the videos, check them out, they loved it!!
Sunday morning arrived to see our FIG level gymnasts of Layla&Mercedes and also Kieran&Sofia perform. The MxP routine was shakey and nervous, and unfortunately received a lower score than hoped for, due to various time faults. A similar situation arose for the WP, and unfortunately without the time faults they would have at least been 2nd! Nevertheless the routines most definitely stood out from the crowd, and they performed well!
Massive congrats to all the gymnasts and parents and coaches. A VERY successful weekend for Hendon Acro Squad :-)
