LAUREN BREEN
ONE cold morning I arrived at Salto Gymnastics Centre, Lisburn, for the Tony Byrne Cup.
I was excited but nervous in case my routines went wrong. I only joined Salto in September. I knew my coaches and friends from Craigavon Gymnastics Club, where I also train, would be there and I wanted to make them proud too. In a competition girls need to compete on 4 pieces – vault, bars, floor and beam. I was competing at Introductory Level age 9-10 and this was my second inter-club competition.
My first piece was vault. All gymnasts were required to do a handspring. You need speed and flight through the air but above all, you don’t want to land on your head! It went well this time and I began to feel more relaxed.
The next rotation was bars, my favourite piece. As I began my swings and the transition to high bar I hoped that the competition was going well.
Floor routines can be a brilliant sight to watch but imagine how it feels for 30 or more sets of eyes to be watching you – it’s very nerve wracking! Perhaps it was even more nerve- wracking for the parents as they watched their daughters perform difficult tumbles, somersaults, splits and leaps!
Finally we were at our last piece – the beam. The beam is the hardest – 124cm high but only 10 cm wide. It’s very hard to “stick” (land) moves and the judges are strict – any wobbles = points off! It’s important to stay calm and focused. Every girl in my age group fell once or more, so I was pleased enough that I fell only once during a routine that contained forward and backward walkovers!
We waited for the results excitedly… when my name was called out I was over the moon! In the end I had won four medals – 1st vault, 2nd bars, 3rd beam and 2nd place overall –hooray!
Gymnastics is a very hard sport but I LOVE it!! It involves long hours of conditioning to build your strength and flexibility and perfecting moves. I train between 14 – 17 hours a week in a Development squad, the Elite girls (still schoolgirls) train 24 hours. However it is a popular sport to watch – it was one of the most requested sports for Olympic tickets. Why not try it/ watch it for yourself?
CODE: 14
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Weather for Portadown
Tuesday 21 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 10 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 5 C to 13 C
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