Rushmoor Rosebowl 2009
The Rosebowl is G.B.‘s most famous & longest running Invitational International. It is now in it’s 28th year and it is a testimony to the Wright family that it continues to attract top class teams from around the world. The competition has sections for Club, Composite and National Teams ~ with the Perpetual Trophy presented to the highest scoring team overall. The star team this year was undoubtably the Australia National team. Peggy Liddick [one of the world’s top coaches & Australia’s National coach] stayed on after Australia’s successes at the recent World Championships to oversee her up & coming gymnasts.
Last year Bristol Hawks were 3rd in the Club Team section with Heathrow 2nd and the very strong Canadian team ‘Champions’ taking first place. This year we fielded a young team with Olivia Bloodworth making her debut in the Bristol Hawks team. Olivia had a great competition nailing her new elements which she is preparing for her Level 2 Vol. competition in November. Claudia Fragapane continues to make great progress and was a whisker away from winning the Rosebowl for the highest scoring under 13yrs gymnast. This acholade went to Rushmoor’s own rising star, Amber Try, who also picked up a bronze medal in the beam final. Bristol Hawks two National Squad members Shannon Lee & Amy Sharp both made valuable contributions to our team score despite Shannon not being 100% well & Amy being in a transitional phase in her training with her new elements not yet ready for competition. Making a return from university to anchor our young team was Stacey Godden who was great asset on the first two apparatus but an unfortunate fall on her beam dismount meant she was unable to contribute to the team score on floor & vault. Thankfully it was nothing serious & like a true team captain she was quickly back out on the competition floor to cheer on the team who with the 4 scores to count and only 4 girls able to go up on 3 pieces of apparatus were really under pressure. The girls really pulled together and we were delighted when we realised that we had surpassed last year’s acheivement by winning the silver medals [2nd in the Club section] with ‘Champions’ again taking gold and Dynamo, also with a young and impressive team, in third.
In the overall standings we also improved by one position from last year finishing 5th with just Australia, Champions, & England ‘A’ & ‘B’ above us. A fantastic result for Bristol Hawks Team ~ Well done to all!
In the individual standings it was close between the top two Aussie’s. Britt Greeley, with a great Bar routine, just prevailed over her team mate Emma Collister, who was strong on both Vault & Floor. In third was the top Canadian Kristin Klarenbach and special mention to England ‘B’s Ruby Harrold who showed a lovely bar routine to come 4th. The Aussies showed their strength in the apparatus finals taking 3 out of the 4 gold medals on offer with Kristin Klarenbach for Canada preventing a clean sweep by winning Vault.
It was another memorable year at the Rushmoor Rosebowl which continues to combine high level competition with a friendly atmosphere which is second to none ~ Long may it continue!
Espoir British Championships 2009
On show in Gloucester last weekend was the future of British Womens Artistic Gymnastics and it was certainly shining bright!
Britain’s premier event for the 12/13 years age group, the ‘Espoir British Champioships’, provided a showcase for the talented young gymnasts from across Great Britain who had fought hard just to qualify for this event.
The high level of difficulty performed coupled with the exacting execution needed to cope with the Range & Conditioning [a series of exercises designed to test the gymnasts flexibility, strength and control] and the demands of the splits & handstand requirements imposed by our National Technical Director all ensure that Britain will continue to rise in the World rankings towards 2012.
First place went to Liverpool’s Alex Cooper whose strong performances on all apparatus reflect the progress she has made under the guidance of her coach Sarah Atwell. Alex was also top scorer on the Floor where she produced a very well executed routine with high flighted tumbles. In second was Cardiff’s Venus Romaeo who continues to produce good results under the direction of Welsh National Coach Tracey Skirton. Venus was also the top scorer on the Vault flying high on her Piked Handspring Front.
Our very own Bristol Hawks gymnast Amy Sharp took third place with a dream performance that drew admiration from top coaches & judges alike. Amy nailed her highly difficult elements on both Bars and Beam and produced steady routines on the other apparatus to win her third place in the overall standings. She was also top scorer on the Bars including the rarely seen ‘Edjova’ and a sky high ‘Geinger’ release & regrasp. On Beam her free cartwheel-flick-layout back somi continues to impress and third place here put her into medal contention for both Bars & Beam at the apparatus finals to be held in Guildford in July. You can watch Amy’s routines plus an interview with her on BGTV by going to British Gymnastics and following the link.
Bristol Hawks Shannon Lee had an excellent start on Range & Conditioning and continued to shine particularly on her last piece the Floor where she included two double back sommersaults and secured herself a place in the apparatus finals. She is also first reserve for finals on both Vault, nicely landed Handspring Front Salto, and Beam, where she held her nerve to successfully land the double back dismount. Shannon was 8th in the overall standings and but for being a whisker away from handstand on bars would have been 4th.
Other highlights included Sophie Jameson & Lauren Smith with beautiful Floors; Angel Romeo with snazzy choreography on Floor & Tkatchev on Bars; Abbie Caig impressive Beam including a lovely Onodi; Billie MacKenzie strong on Beam & Bars and Ruby Harrold’s full twisting Yurchenko on the Vault.
All in all it was a great day for British Gymnastics and the icing on the cake for the top 5 gymnasts was the chance to compete for Great Britain in a Junior International Event in Germany at the end of June. This will be the first International for Amy Sharp who joins a long tradition of Hawks gymnasts who have achieved the honour of representing their country at international competitions.
Rushmoor Rosebowl 2007
Britain’s most prestigious and longest running Invitational Competition takes place on the 3rd weekend of October each year in Aldershot. The hosts, Rushmoor Gymnastic Club, are led by Colin & Bernie Wright, one of the most famous coaching duo’s in British Gymnastics [daughter Claire is also 7 time British Trampoline Champion].
The Rosebowl always attracts a strong National & International field and this year was no exception. For the first time ever one of the World’s most famous clubs, C.S.K.A. Moscow would be competing.
Teams compete in three sections:
National ~ This year South Africa; England Juniors & England Seniors.
Composite [Teams made up from a number of clubs e.g. regional, county or area teams] ~ This year Kent; Sussex; Surrey; South West; South East; & London G.F..
Club ~ Tolworth; Rushmoor; Pipers Vale; Sparks; Hillingdon; Park Wrekin; Bristol Hawks; Dynamo & C.S.K.A. Moscow.
With our first placing in the Club section from last year we were seeded into the 4th round. With the format 5 in a team and 4 scores to count on each piece we were already at a disadvantage over many teams as Rhian [just coming back into competition] was only competing on Beam leaving us with all scores to count on the other 3 pieces of apparatus. Knowing we had Rhian up last steadied our teams nerves on our first piece beam and Hannah did a fantastic job for the team by going up first and sticking. Her routine included her new element:Free Round-off. Dismounting with a double twist she completed a successful beam which won her a place in the beam final with a 12.95. Laura also nailed her routine scoring 12. On floor Laura went up first and produced a personal best performance to give a great start to our team. Stacey with her new choreography was steady and Hannah not only landed her double pike but in the area too saving the team valuable points. Carolyn anchored the team by landing her double twisting front at the end of her routine.
Next up Vault and with one vault each all to count it was nerve wracking. Again Laura and Stacey did a good job landing on their feet after their Tsukahara’s. Carolyn produced a stunningly good vault which also landed her in Sunday’s Vault final 13.45 scored. On bars Stacey gave us a wobbley start but made it through to the end, Hannah did a great job with her very new bar routine, Laura battled through her routine and just overdid the dismount. Last up was Carolyn but it woundn’t be her last performance as she had qualified for the Vault Final the next day ~ this didn’t stop the team shedding tears as we reflected on the end of an era of Carolyn as our Elite Girls Team Captain.
Although we made some errors it was a good team performance and all played their part in giving Carolyn a competition to remember as her last. When the presentations came we realized that as a club we couldn’t have placed higher ~ we were second to that very famous Moscow Club CSKA who incidently also won the Overall Rosebowl beating the England Senior National Team.
Colin & Bernie presented a Rosebowl to Carolyn, on her retirement, in recognition of her special contribution to the sport in G.B. A great honour and very generous gesture!
Finals Day The top 10 in each apparatus [out of the whole 93 gymnasts in the competition] compete again for the apparatus titles ~ Hannah had done very well to qualify 7th in the beam final in very good company. She competed against 3 Russians [1st, 2nd & 3rd] two Senior England Team members [4th & 5th] and produced another clean routine to up her position and finish 6th. A fantastic achievement WELL DONE Hannah.
Carolyn had qualified 8th for the final & you need 2 different vaults [from different groups] to count to your overall score. Carolyn started with her favourite Handspring 1 1/2 front somi off. It flew & it landed dead WONDERFUL. Her second vault she has not practised for over a year and her coach was slightly worried!! but needn’t have been as she landed her Tsukahara too -to up her position to 6th. A great end to a GREAT gymnastics performance career. We wish her all the very best for the future and hope she continues to coach and work for the club inspiring a new generation of young gymnasts.
Check out our results page for full results of the competition.
