Toowoomba gymnasts shine in United States

Toowoomba PCYC gymnasts bring home gold from Hawaii

Toowoomba PCYC Gymnastic Club members (from back left) Amber Hartvigsen, Emily Box, Sami Nobbs, Courtney Thomson, Zahli Pratt, Hannah Quinn, Ryanda Craige, Kelsey-Rae Terry, Gemma Osmond, Cadence West, (front left) Emily Lindsay, Emily Miller, Sam Lowery, Rachel Pingel, Elina Schmidt, Maree Chin, Pretoria Naumann celebrate their success in Hawaii.

GYMNASTICS : Toowoomba PCYC’s gymnasts have proven they have the skills and focus to perform at any level.

Earlier this year the club sent 14 athletes and four coaches to Hawaii for the 44th annual Aloha Gymfest.

Facing teams from Canada, mainland United States, Japan, New Zealand and Hawaii itself, PCYC gymnasts won five of the six divisions they were entered in.

“The idea to enter the competition was put forward by one of our coaches,” Toowoomba PCYC Gymnastics Club head coach Rachel Pingel said.

“We did some research and thought it would be a great experience for our gymnasts so we asked for expressions of interest.

“Once we had a firm number of members determined we set about preparing for the competition.

The first hurdle Pingel and her gymnasts had to address was competing in a new system.

“The first thing I did after we decided we’re going to compete was to familiarise myself with the competition requirements,” Pingel said.

“The skills of gymnastics are the same worldwide but how competitions are run and judged can be very different.

“In Australia we have levels 1-10, what level you are determines where you compete, but Aloha Fest was based on the Xcel system

“The Hawaiian competition was different so we had to make sure we knew everything about it – like what movements and patterns were expected and allowed.

“We went there (Hawaii) with no real expectations but at the same time we wanted to be competitive and for the girls to be able to enjoy themselves.”

With their minds set on the task at hand, the team got straight to work and their efforts were rewarded.

“I was really impressed with how hard everyone worked,” Pingel said.

“The Excel program gave us a little more flexibility to be creative in the routines we created.

“But rather than focus on big difficult moves we made sure we got all the little things right which makes the biggest difference.

“I am really proud of how they all performed.”

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