The top gymnasts of Victoria revealed: Asher Bayles, Marcus Casamento, Tyson Bull, Emily Whitehead
From tumbling across the floor to dismounting from the bars, here are the top gymnasts in Victoria. Find out who they are and where they have competed.
Leader
Don't miss out on the headlines from Leader . Followed categories will be added to My News.
A sport requiring balance, strength, endurance and stamina and many more abilities has struck the interest of many Victorians.
Originating from Ancient Greece, where young men underwent intense physical and mental training for warfare, Gymnastics has been around for as long as we know.
The popular sport was first introduced into the 1896 Athens Olympic Games where only men competed, later introducing Women’s Artistic Gymnastics at the Paris Olympic Games in 1924.
Men’s Artistic Gymnastics includes six events in total — Floor, Pommel Horse, Rings, Vault, Parallel Bars and the Horizontal Bar.
Women’s Artistic Gymnastics includes four events in total — Vault, Uneven Bars, Beam and Floor.
Leader has gathered a list of some of the best gymnasts across Victoria, and there’s been too many to count.
Let us know who you think is the best gymnast in Victoria, on or off this list.
Nicholas Howard - Eureka Gymnastics Club
St Mary’s College student Nicholas Howard, originally from Ballarat, has been flying through his career, having recently represented Australia at the Men’s Artistic Gymnastics meet in Germany.
Howard made three apparatus finals — placing sixth on the horizontal bar, fifth on rings, and third on vault receiving a bronze medal.
Howard will also be representing the country again at the Junior World Artistic Championships in Turkey.
“We are very proud of Nic‘s Gymnastics achievements and look forward to following his future successes,” St Mary’s College wrote on their website.
Eureka Gymnastics said in a Facebook post they were so proud of Howard and he looked “great in the green and gold”.
Asher Bayles — Geelong YMCA
Asher Bayles, 16, has been a member of YMCA Gymnastics Club in Geelong since she was only five years old.
She is the only Senior International gymnast from regional Victoria and the first Senior International athlete at YMCA Geelong training centre.
Asher placed third all-around at Nationals in 2019 as a Future International but missed out on competing her junior international years in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid lockdowns and an injury.
At 15, Bayles debuted as a first year senior last year, finishing seventh all-around at the Australian Gymnastics Championships and was named non-travelling reserve for Commonwealth Games.
Marcus Casamento — Balance Gymnastics/High performance program
Marcus Casamento, 20, is the senior national champion on floor of 2022 who is a member of the Victorian Institute of Sport and the national squad.
The Bundoora-born gymnast said in a statement from Gymnastics Victoria his sisters did calisthenics growing up, and he loved joining in when they were practicing doing handstands and cartwheels at home.
Casamento also told Gymnastics Victoria one of his best highlights was competing at the Melbourne World Cup in 2020.
His advice to other gymnasts is that “progress comes slowly, nothing good ever happens overnight”.
“Follow your long-term goals and you’ll see results,” Casamento said.
He’s working to represent Australia at the Olympics.
Tyson Bull — Knox Gymnastics/High Performance Program
Melbourne resident Tyson Bull, 29, started gymnastics when he was only five years old.
Bull competed in the World Gymnastics Championships in 2022.
He is one of few people in the world capable of performing a ‘Cassina’, a type of gymnastics skill on the men’s horizontal bar.
Bull competed in the Australian Gymnastics Championships in 2015 where he took home two gold medals on the horizontal bar and pommel horse.
Bull also competed in the 2018 and 2019 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and the Tokyo Olympic Games.
His Tokyo Olympics performance was the best any male Australian has ever performed.
He was also featured on the Sydney Opera House sails in 2021, reflecting the hard work Bull has put into his journey and competing at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Bull also won a silver medal for the horizontal bar at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022.
Emily Whitehead — Waverley Gymnastics
Emily Whitehead, 21 from Mornington, started gymnastics when she was only five years old.
The hard work paid off, and she represented Australia at the Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021.
Whitehead was the 2022 Australian champion for Floor and attended the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham to defend her bronze medal in vault.
She has also competed in the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Whitehead has previously said the sport taught her to “just keep chipping away” and to not “focus on the things you can’t control”.
Whitehead’s motto is to “leave no stone unturned” and “train your mind to see the good in every situation”.
Whitehead also claimed bronze in both the vault and in the Team event at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018.
She also won a bronze medal for her floor routine and a silver medal in the Team event at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022.
Kipp Smith — Eastern Gymnastics/High Performance Program
Beginning gymnastics in 2007 when he was only five years old, Kipp Smith, now 20, from Prahran competes for Eastern Gymnastics Club and trains at the men’s High Performance Program.
Smith moved to the High Performance Program of the sport in 2014.
He has represented Australia multiple times in the past and said he feels “proud” every time he can wear the green and gold.
Smith has competed at the Rici Dici International where he placed second on Pommel and has competed in other international competitions, such as the Junior World Championships and the Pacific Rim Championships.
Smith said he loved the “physical challenges” the most about gymnastics.
“When you master a new skill there is always another one to try,” he said.
He said his toughest challenge was getting through the stress fracture of his back and the rehab involved for it.
Kate McDonald — Cheltenham Youth Club
Kate McDonald, 21, started gymnastics when she was only five years old and was the 2022 Commonwealth Games champion on the balance beam.
McDonald has been a national squad member since 2018 and competed at many national and international competitions, with Birmingham being one of her proudest achievements.
She also represented Australia at the World Gymnastics Championships in 2019 and she competed in the uneven bars event at the Pacific Rim Championships in Columbia back in 2018 where she earned herself a bronze medal.
McDonald also returned to compete at the World Gymnastics Championships in 2022.
McDonald was selected for the Gymnix Challenge, Montreal, where she took home a silver medal from her balance beam routine.
The Cheltenham Youth Club said in a Facebook post McDonald was a “hard working” and “dedicated” gymnast.
William Hansen-Cooper — BTYC Gymnastics
William Hansen-Cooper started gymnastics when he was only seven years old, and is part of the High Performance Program.
Hansen-Cooper organised an Australian Sports Foundation Fundraiser in the past in order to raise money for his trip to Austria for the Austrian Future Cup competition he qualified for.
He said in the fundraiser his older sister was “so passionate” about the sport which is why he decided to give it a go.
“I had some natural talent but most of all I worked really hard and persevered through tough times to get to where I am today,” Hansen-Cooper said.
He placed third overall at Nationals last year and finaled on the pommel horse, took home a silver medal on the parallel bars and earned a bronze medal on floor and rings, which was all after suffering from a concussion a few weeks before competing.
“My Nationals performance gave me the opportunity to train at the AIS and now to qualify for my first international competition in Austria,” he said in his fundraiser.
“There is nothing I want more than to represent my country doing what I love best.”
Airez Coyle — Athleta Gymnastics
Airez Coyle, 14, qualified for the Victorian state team in 2022 and represented Victoria at the Australian Gymnastics Championships on the Gold Coast.
Coyle currently trains at Athleta Gymnastics in Altona North.
She competed as a Junior International athlete where the team placed third overall.
She also competed at the Victorian Championships in 2018 where she placed first on the balance beam, first on floor, third on vault and third on uneven bars.
Ruben Chitters — Dolphin Gymnastics
Ruben Chitters, 21, from Melbourne has been doing gymnastics since they were only seven years old, described as a “promising gymnast” by their coach.
Chitters has represented Australia in the Moscow World Cup and has showed the world what they’re made of as a gymnast, achieving many Victorian Championships.
Chitters took home a gold medal for their floor routine and a silver medal for their horizontal bar routine in 2019.
Join the conversation
15yo car thief gets 55th chance on bail after alleged crime spree
One of Central Victoria’s most prolific car thieves has been released on his 55th count of bail as police warn his alleged Bendigo crime sprees are escalating.
Read more
Pub charged with serving alcohol to under-18s
A Shepparton pub allegedly served alcohol to minors as well as allowing them into gaming areas.
Read more