Saltney Gymnastics Club are celebrating a successful start to 2015 after securing a host of medal triumphs.
Members of the club have claimed prizes at three separate competitions this year with impressive performances at the Welsh Gymnastics North Area competition, the Welsh Acro Championships and the Celtic Cup.
At the Northern Area competition, Saltney gymnasts scooped no less than 14 gold, six silver and three bronze medals, making them the outright winners of the overall team award.
The team then travelled to Swansea for the Welsh Acro Championships where the club coaches worked hard to prepare more than 50 gymnasts to compete.
The hard work paid off as gold medals were awarded to Joe Smith, Maja Zieba, Laura McNicholas, Evie Dougherty, Liam Robinson, Ciara McNicholas, Matt Scott and Aoife Higgins while silvers were picked up by Keiran Guy, Sophie Grundy, William Lorenz, Oliver Lorenz, Oscar Booth and Anna Boyne.
Amy Ryan, Cinty Brackley, Sofia Cartwright-Alves, Louise Farrall, Emily Wynne-Jones all collected bronzes.
As a result of their success at the Welsh Championships, a number of Saltney gymnasts were selected to represent Wales at the Celtic Cup, an international competition held annually against Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland.
This year the competition was held in Limerick, Ireland with the Welsh team coming a very close second in the overall team event and individual medals being achieved by Frankie Benson, Georgia Place and Lillie Fisher (gold) and Amy Ryan, Cinty Brackley, Liam Robinson and Ciara McNicholas (bronze).
A number of Saltney members also headed for Portugal as of the North Wales squad to compete at the MIAC International competition.
Selected to compete were Frankie Benson, Georgia Place, Lillie Fisher, Paloma Gioia, Danni Macready and Sophie Wilson, who were up against some of Europe’s top gymnasts, with all six putting in impressive performances at the competition.
Club head coach Denise Bayley and deputy head coach Debbie Lavender said: “We are astounded and proud of the amazing success that each and every one of our gymnasts has achieved over recent weeks.
“To obtain so many medals across so many competitions is a fantastic reward for the hard work and commitment put in by our gymnasts and coaches over many, many months of training.
“For some gymnasts these were their first competitions and we have been extremely proud of how they have represented both themselves and our club.
“We are committed to continue to develop and train our gymnasts to reach their maximum potential and look forward to continued success during the rest of 2015 and beyond.”
