Junior Gymies Take to the Rose Bowl
Fresh from the recent World Championship success of Lauren Mitchell, the WAIS gymnastic program has seen the next generation of international gymnasts come through with four athletes competing in the UK.
Scholarship holders Nikki Chung, Ashley Cooney, Natalia Joura and Georgia Simpson all represented WAIS and WA at the Rushmoor Rose Bowl event in England, impressing against some good quality opposition.
WAIS Head of Gymnastics Liz Chetkovich said that trip was as much a learning curve for the girls as it was a competitive experience.
“The girls had to adjust to travelling overseas, adapting to a new training environment, coping with interrupted training schedules (whilst watching Lauren at Worlds) and the challenge of their first overseas international event,” she said.
“Predictably it was difficult for them to reproduce all of their best routines, but despite this, the WAIS team placed first out of the regional teams,” she added.
In the all-around competition, Chung finished 16th, Simpson 17th, Cooney 26th and Joura claimed 65th, despite competing in only three apparatus. She missed floor as she continues to recover from injury.
All four women qualified for the vault final with Chung seventh, Simpson eighth, Joura 10th and Cooney 11th.
The competition was particularly impressive considering Chung was making her junior international debut, with the other three also inexperienced at international level.