12 best up-and-coming gymnasts in South Australia
From a crippling back injury to the breakout of war – SA’s top budding gymnasts have overcome all kinds of adversity to become the best at what they do.
Lifestyle
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From a Ukrainian refugee who fled war to a young athlete who was told by doctors he’d never again compete, South Australia is home to many up-and-coming elite gymnasts.
Among the state’s top 12 gymnasts, many are set to compete on the international stage this week.
From commuting long distances to training and moving towns to chase their sporting dreams, they show just how much grit and passion it takes to excel in a sport known for the tenacity of its athletes.
Meet South Australia’s top young gymnasts.
Cameron Tidd
Age: 17
Club: Queenstown Gymnastics Club
Suburb: Cudlee Creek
Coach: Jennifer Allison
Cameron Tidd is the youngest Australian team member at the 2023 Trampoline Gymnastics World Championships in Birmingham this week.
It’s hard to imagine the 17-year-old had been told he would never compete again just six months earlier.
After suffering a stress injury to his lower back, doctors delivered the bad news to the young gymnast in January this year.
Coach Jennifer Allison said Tidd persevered through his back injury and never gave up on his dream.
“After a period of time off, Cameron and his family sought an alternative opinion from SA Sports Institute doctor, Dr Geoff Verrall,” Allison said.
“He was able to work on rehabilitating the injury and returned to basic training in April this year.
“Despite only returning to the sport six months ago, Cameron’s strong performances in a World Championships selection activity earned him a place on his first Senior Australian Team.”
Tidd became the first South Australian to compete in the double mini trampoline event at the World Championships in more than 18 years.
“We are very proud of him for finishing top 20 in the world at his debut,” Allison said.
The Banksia Park High School year 11 student travels up to one hour from his Cudlee Creek home for every Queenstown Gymnastics Club training session while balancing studies.
Ilia Horiahin
Age: 13
Club: Gymnastics SA High Performance Program
Suburb:
Coach:
Ilia Horiahin has been doing gymnastics since he was three years old, showing promise from an early age and competing in his homeland at national level.
When the war in Ukraine broke out in 2022, it was not only a huge disruption to his potential career and training, it uprooted the whole family.
Horiahin’s parents made the difficult decision to leave their country, settling in Adelaide.
“The forced relocation disrupted my training,” the 13-year-old said.
“A friend in Australia extended a helping hand, guiding me to a gymnastics facility.
“Thanks to this support, I found my way back to the sport I love.”
Having lived in Adelaide for the only the past year and a half, the teen has already won the top spot in men’s artistic gymnastics in the state, earning himself a place on the SA team.
This year he placed 20th in the country in the all-round under-13s.
He has showcased his skills in Brisbane and will continue to compete on the South Australian state team.
It is his dream to one day compete in the Olympics.
Georgia Beddall
Age: 21
Club: Adelaide Tumbling Academy
Suburb: North Haven
Coach: William Morris
The North Haven athlete became the first tumbling athlete to be selected for a World Championships team in SA’s history in 2019.
Already this year Georgia Beddall has competed in three world championship events.
The 21-year-old has demonstrated success at the national and international level, all while balancing her studies in finance at the University of Adelaide.
Beddall qualified 20th at the World Championships semi-final this year and finished the competition in 24th place.
She was recently named a finalist Sport SA’s South Australian Athlete of the Year Award.
Jedd Hudson
Age: 15
Club: Tea Tree Gully Gymsports
Suburb: Prospect
Coach: Natasha Giles
Jedd Hudson is a member of the South Australian state team and is considered one of the state’s most successful male tumbling athletes to date.
The 15-year-old will make his international debut as a junior at the 2023 Trampoline Gymnastics World Age Group Competition later this week in Birmingham with the Junior Australian Team.
Hudson won bronze at the 2023 Australian Gymnastics Championships in the under-17 tumbling.
His club describes him as a team player, always willing to assist other athletes and coaches with coaching courses and demonstrations.
Akira Van, 16, Kaiden Van, 13 & Meika Van, 13
Club: Tea Tree Gully Gymsports
Suburb: Mawson Lakes
Coach: Manel Offord and Natasha Giles
Gymnastics is a family affair for the Van family.
Sibling duo Akira and Kaiden Van have both enjoyed big success in 2023 – they were both selected for Australian team in their respective sports for the first time.
Kaiden, 13, competes in the tumbling apparatuses – part of trampoline gymnastics – while 16-year-old Akira competes in artistic gymnastics.
Kaiden will compete in the under-15 event at the 2023 Trampoline Gymnastics World Competition later this week in Birmingham.
Older sister Akira will make her international debut next January, competing in two events in the US.
Kaiden’s twin sister, Meika Van, also 13, will compete alongside both her siblings in tumbling and artistic gymnastics at the 2023 Australian Gymnastics Championships.
Ruby Kerrison (15)
Club: Gymnastics SA High Performance Program
Coach: Viktor Zhuravlev
After celebrating her 15th birthday, Ruby Kerrison flew straight to Birmingham to compete in the 2023 Trampoline Gymnastics World Championships.
She will be looking to improve upon her placing from the 2022 event in Bulgaria.
Kerrison trains with the Gymnastics SA High Performance Program and has been selected for three junior Australian teams within the past 12 months.
She won a silver medal at the 2023 New Zealand National Championships in July.
The teen transferred from artistic gymnastics to trampoline gymnastics and has consistently won medals at national events in the past year.
She has significantly raised the standard of junior athletes in SA trampoline gymnastics.
Kerrison finished second in the 2023 Australian Gymnastics Championships and the 2023 Australian National Clubs Carnival.
Rebekah Thomson
Age: 19
Club: Gymnastics SA High Performance Program and Riverland Gymnastics Academy
Suburb: Marion and Berri
Coach: Viktor Zhuravlev
Rebekah Thomson is already a star of the sport, securing the under-22 title three times since May 2023.
The 19-year-old won this year’s Australian Gymnastics Championships, the New Zealand National Championships and the Australian National Clubs Carnival.
Thomson was travelling more than three hours from Berri to Adelaide so she could train and become a member of the Australian national team.
Now that she has moved to Adelaide, she has thrown herself fully into the world of gymnastics while continuing to chase her dream.
She is a coach, a judge and an administrative assistant in the sport.
Now Thomson set to compete in the under-22 event in the 2023 World Championships in Birmingham in the individual trampoline and synchronised trampoline events.
She was recently named the 2023 Riverland Sportsperson of the Year.
Sienna Nesci
Age: 15
Club: Koorana
Coach: Kyla Dolman
Sienna Nesci compete in the women’s artistic gymnastics.
She claimed bronze at nationals Future International in the 14 and over age group this year.
Nesci was also named 2022 Gymnastics South Australia Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Junior Elite Athlete of the Year.
Plus attended Gymnastics Australia International Pathways in July and November 2022 alongside the best junior and Future International gymnasts in the country.
Lillian Giustozzi
Age: 17
Club: Adelaide Tumbling Academy
Suburb: Unley
Coach: William Morris
She may only be 17 but Lillian Giustozzi has competed across the under-22 and senior divisions in tumbling.
Giustozzi made her international debut at the World Age Group Championships in Bulgaria in 2022 and will return to the international stage this week in Birmingham at the 2023 Trampoline Gymnastics World Championships.
In 2022 she was ranked 37th in the world and will be looking to better that ranking this year.
The teen finished in first place at this year’s Australian National Clubs Carnival and is an Australian Junior National Squad Member.
Abbie Watts (27)
Club: Gymnastics SA High Performance Program
Coach: Viktor Zhuravlev
Abbie Watts has just concluded her sixth Trampoline Gymnastics World Championship.
She has made significant strides in her journey to qualify for Paris 2024, having competed in three Olympic qualifying events this year – in Portugal in July, the US in August and Bulgaria in October.
At all three events, Watts secured the highest Australian ranking in the women’s event and semi-final finishes across two of the events.
She has accumulated ranking points, which she hopes will secure her a spot in the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Watts was the 2022 Australian National Champion in the individual trampoline, synchronised trampoline and team events.
She received a bronze medal in the synchronised event at the Palm Beach World Cup, and helped the Australian team finish fourth at the All Around Final at the 2023 World Championships.
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