RENMORE NATIONAL TEAM BRING BACK THE BRONZE MEDAL ONCE AGAIN!
On Sunday 11th November, Renmore Gymnastics Club traveled to Janz Gymnastics Club in South County Dublin for the National Team Championships. This is one of the most prestigious competitions of the year where all the top Irish gymnasts compete both individually (for qualifications for big competitions later on in the season) and also as teams for the champion team titles. Renmore gymnastics only made entry into FULL FIG in 2011 when they returned home to Galway victorious with the bronze medal, needless to say we returned this year with many eyes waiting and watching to see our team.
Six of our gymnasts, Nicole Shaw, Erin Shimizu, Amy O Neill, Roisin Curran, Ellen Hynes and Emmeline Anghileri arrived at the competition venue after months of hard work to compete for one of the much sought after titles.
The girls were outstanding, from the moment they arrived in the competition hall, ready as a team with big smiles, beautiful hair and a bit of nervous determination, to the moment they left once again with their bronze medals strung proudly around their necks. The girls have worked hard all year through tears and frustrations, ripped hands and blisters, injuries strapped up to give just a little bit more and all the highs and lows that come with this extremely difficult sport of ours, and yesterday was no different… the hard work continued supporting each other through every step so they could give their very best in competition.
The competition started on floor, where Ellen, Amy, Roisin and Emmeline were up to dance, leap, spin and tumble their way through their routines in an attempt to give a good start to the team. The girls did fantastic and on they went to Vault, where Roisin, Nicole, Erin, Emmeline, and Ellen flipped their way over the 125cm table with style, upping the team score a little more. Then onto Bars where Nicole, Ellen, Emmeline, and Amy swung between high and low bar with elegance to secure another nice score and finally to Beam, the 4inch wide, 125cm high apparatus where nerves can really take their toll. Nicole, Roisin, Ellen, Emmeline and Erin were up and competed with much confidence, despite a few falls, the girls still performed with grace to secure a final score for the team.
Renmore Gymnastics Team, the youngest teams present, with the least experience competing at this top level managed to secure the bronze medal for the second year running. The exact same ranking placed as last year, after Salto Gymnastics from City of Lisburn taking the Gold and Excel from Dublin taking the silver. With much hard work and determination the team also managed to close the gap between themselves and the top two clubs in the final scores. The coaches and parents were extremely proud of this achievement and the girls are also very happy. Evidently much hard work is starting to really pay off.
In this game there are no breaks though, and the girls are straight back into the gym today to carry on, and start preparing for the next competition. Well done ladies, from all your coaches at Renmore Gymnastics!
Elaine