Stephens Debut to Underpin New Wave of WA Gymnastics Talent

Western Australian gymnast Sidney Stephens will next week compete at the 2018 Pacific Rim Championships in Colombia after earning selection for the Australian women’s artistic team.

  

The selection is something of a watershed for gymnastics in WA, following the significant shake up of the sport after the Rio Olympics.

  

The 15 year-old becomes the first WA athlete to gain international selection through the new development structure of the National Centre of Excellence in Perth which was established in 2017 following the closure of the WAIS Gymnastics Program.

 

The Centre’s head coach, Coral King said that it was exciting to see the new pathway linking in with the national high performance strategy implemented by Gymnastics Australia, which is partnered through service support and facility access at WAIS.

  

Speaking on the change of pathway structure, King remarked, “the National Centre of Excellence has provided the athletes the ability to train under the program direction and overall leadership of our national coach Mihai Brestyan,” she said.

  

“The NCE Perth has worked closely with Mihai and Gymnastics Australia to provide the gymnasts with a highly professional team of staff, training facilities and programs to allow the girls to reach their highest potential.”

The Pacific Rim assignment marks Stephens’ first Australian team and her selection was secured after the Doubleview resident topped the verification trials at the AIS recently.

Stephens also headed the junior physical test results, which she saw as affirmation of her strong training ethic.

  

“I felt truly honoured to make the selection and satisfied that my hard work had paid off,” she said.

  

“I will compete in the WAG competition on Saturday (April 28) and hope to make Individual Apparatus Finals on Sunday.”

  

The Women’s Artistic Gymnastics team will arrive in Colombia next Tuesday, before undergoing three days of podium training.

This period of time will allow the girls to familiarise themselves with the competition apparatus and adjust any timings that might need changing as a result of the unfamiliar equipment.

Stephens modestly rated her preparations as “pretty solid” but her coach – who will travel with the Australian team to Colombia, suggested she was in career best shape.

  

“The coaching team recently recognized during a meeting that we feel it’s her best lead up to a bench mark event,” King said.