Honiton acrobatic gymnasts set sights on European trials

Honiton acrobatic gymnasts Ashley Wallis and Buster Tutcher have their sights firmly set on trials for the European Age Group Championships after securing their third silver medal in a row at British Championship events.

13-year-old Honiton Community College Student Ashley and his acrobatic partner Buster – also 13 and a pupil at the Woodroffe School in Lyme Regis – took their most recent silver medal at the British Tournament in Stoke on Trent last week. Their score of 27.05 put them just behind rivals from Heathrow Gymnastics Club and ahead of the bronze medallists from Horsham in Surrey.

“The boys performed excellently,” said high performance coach James Reddy, “showing strength of character after qualifying for the final in fourth position. They picked up their performance and increased their score in the final by almost a full mark. This routine included two new balances where Ashley balances on one hand on Buster’s head – something they’ve never performed before in a national competition.”

This latest result puts the boys in a strong position to be selected to trial for the European Championships, which take place in October 3013 near Lisbon in Portugal . “They still have a great deal of hard work to do over the next four months, even to be selected to trial,” added James, “and will have to improve their average score by more than a full mark for each routine. I’m confident that they will put in the hard work that is needed though and add some more moves to their repertoire that will not only help them stand out from the crowd but also increase the difficulty of their routines.”

More exceptional results for Honiton’s mixed and women’s pairs
In addition to Buster and Ashley’s success, Honiton also had some exceptional results in the 11-16 mixed pair category – where partnerships narrowly missed out on medals – and in the 11-16 women’s pair event.

In the mixed pairs 10-year-old Megan Jones and 15-year-old Adam Fullick finished in fourth position. In joint fifth position were 11-year-old Charlotte Beviss and 16-year-old Josh Jackson alongside 11-year-old Megan Cross and 15-year-old Sean Kingston.

In the women’s pairs event – the most competitive category of the weekend – the women’s pair of Kaisha Dessalines-Wright and Alice Hewstone finished in 11th position.

“It’s an achievement in itself to have five partnerships that reach a high enough standard to compete at British Championship events,” added James. “Many of the clubs we compete against have full time coaches, purpose built facilities, and more than 1,000 members. But we’re showing that, despite Honiton only being a small town, we can challenge the best in the country.”

34 gymnasts from Honiton’s squad have also just finished a five-show appearance at Ivybridge Community College where they performed a dramatic ‘Vampires’ routine in front of a total of more than 2,000 spectators. The theatrical piece, which was a highlight of the three-hour show, will be used at the club’s Christmas display on Friday 21 December and will also be performed at a number of local fetes and galas in summer 2013.

To find out more about Honiton Gymnastics Club, which caters for all age groups and abilities (including adult classes), visit www.honitongymclub.org.

To see Buster and Ashley’s medal-winning routine, visit the British Gymnastics TV channel at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBGdlb7ZKrQ