On Friday 10thMay, Head Coach Heather and George Harvey from our MAG (Men’s Artistic Gymnastics) squad took the long journey up to Ipswich for the Pipers Vale Challenge and Cup.
George, who’s only 13, was competing in his first U16 competition. To add to the occasion, he was up against gymnasts from clubs such as Leeds and Newcastle who are known for producing Team GB stars – but that didn’t faze him.
He had a remarkable day scoring consistently on all the piece’s, bar one. The pommel. This could be argued as one of his stronger pieces but unfortunately he fell off in the heat of battle.
Though falling off, George still found himself in a strong 10thposition once all the scores were collated and he also marginally missed out on a medal position on the parallel bars.
This is a magnificent achievement amongst some of the country’s best up and coming gymnasts. It’s a true credit to George, the squad and our coaches for pulling this off with minimal hours and just 4 out of the 6 apparatus currently in our gym.
George Harvey said: “Pipers vale was a great competition and I’ve gained some key experience competing in the U16 for the first time.
I am very proud to represent Worthing Gymnastics Club who have supported me to compete at this level and I am grateful to everyone for their support.”
Heather Sampford said: “What an outstanding result for George who was unlucky not to be placed higher! Brilliant to think what he and our other gymnasts could achieve with access to all the equipment regularly.
That said, this result means the boys programmes are running tremendously and, for the first time, there wasn’t a significant dip in the scores for High Bar and Rings which we have access to once a week thanks to our friends at Hawth Gymnastics Club.”
