It's Only A Day Away

Tomorrow, February 1st, marks the day public tickets go on sale for the 2010 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships.

Run, don't walk to your nearest Ticketek or Ticketmaster outlet to secure your seat at this blue ribbon gymsport event.

Session times and ticket prices can be found here. Please be aware that MAG, WAG and Acro are sold via Ticketek, where Rhythmic and Trampoline are sold through Ticketmaster.

I've got my seat, I hope you get yours!

AGB Visits the HPC... Again!

Thanks to the Anon for bringing it to my attention - the Victorian Women's High Performance Centre is having yet another open day for charity!

Read all about it here.

Please note that the date is yet to be decided.

All at the HPC are to be commended for offering the public a unique and exciting sports experience in the name of a worthy cause. Yours truly will be there with bells on!

Back With a Capital D

Exciting stuff happens when I'm away at work, dammit! I couldn't my laptop working this morning but I went to work assuming nothing magnanimous would go on in the gymworld in my absence anyway! Oh, how wrong I was.

Many many thanks to the anon in the previous entries that brought THIS AWESOME NEWS to my attention (Brindabella, too, who sent me a photo of the paper). Dasha's back in the gym! Sound the trumpets, shower the confetti, release the doves!

Significant quotes from the linked article are...

"She is finally ready to get back into training and is testing the waters to see how her body holds up," Chetkovich said.

"She has not committed herself to any specific goals and would like to see if she still enjoys training at top level."

......

"Daria has been out for 12 months so you can say it would probably take the same amount of time to get back again," she said.

"In the first instance we have to see how her body responds to training and then decide whether she still enjoys being in the gym."

.......

Chetkovich believes the Commonwealth Games in October may be beyond Joura with selection trials scheduled for Perth in July.

"I would think it is too early but you can never say never," she said. "When you have had that amount of time off and get back too quickly you risk overuse injury."

I hope she can do it and do it to a level that fulfills her. She deserves a new lease on her competition life. We love this girl.

Also...

Happy clappy sappy 18th birthday to my favourite Smallfreckly Amber Fulljames!

Team (B)Ambi has a party bus on standby. Rock on, little one! Enjoy the day!

Happy Australia Day 2010

To Aussies at home an overseas, take some time to enjoy our national holiday (unless you're like me and have to go into work at some point). Hope you all get time for family, fun and food!

I for one count myself thankful for the opportunities living here has given me. Hope our gymnasts can do us all proud as they represent Australia in their competitions at home and abroad this year.

Have a great day!

Trashbags Unite!

Do you love over-acted, passably-realistic drama serials?
Do you love seeing teenage stereotypes played against backdrops OTHER than high schools?
Do you love televisual attempts to disguise where the stuntperson ends and the actor begins?
Do you love gymnastics so much you'd watch just about any trashy faff simply to see an iota of leotard-clad exertion?

Well, friends, me and my popcorn have a free space on the couch for ya.

Tonight!
8:30pm AEST!
Fox8!
"MAKE IT OR BREAK IT" BEGINS!

"Who you callin' Stick It!?"

Sounds Like a Theme Park...

Those of you with cable/digital television and access to the Eurosport channel, keep your peepers peeled for an exciting little program called World of Gymnastics.

I discovered it quite by accident at 5:30 this afternoon. It wasn't in the magazine listings (I think baseball was scheduled), it just cropped up in the info bar. According to the narration once it kicked off, it's a program that is broadcast monthly.

Basically, it was a gymnastics results and highlights program. Imagine: Your news station's usual half-hour sports report where all of the items are gymnastics-related! It was a round-up of recent major competitions from across the gym disciplines- yes, rhythmic AND tramp AND tumbling AND acro AND aerobics got a look-in! This one was a November 2009 wrap-up so it featured finals results from the Stuttgart artistic world cup (at which our own Prashanth won pommel silver), the Berlin Masters rhythmic event and world cup competitions from the other aforementioned gymsports. It showed snippets from all medal-winning routines plus winner's podium shots, and tied the whole package together with the delightful ribbon of a Beth Tweddle profile at the very end.

In short: World of Gymnastics? Brilliant!

Watch out for it.

Top marks, Eurosport! Keep it coming!

January Camp Report

Wow!

Yes, there it is at Gymnastics Australia - a real, living, breathing camp report! Thanks GA! *wink and cheesy infomercial smile*

The main focus of the camp was physical assessment and skills/program updating. All gymnasts verified their skill assignments from the National Coach.

Some highlights of the camp were:

Emily Little performed some beautiful and powerful Double Twisting Yurchenkos and a very high, dynamic Double Pike dismount from beam. Emily is in a very good physical condition and has made a very smooth transition into the Senior ranks.

First year Senior, Georgia Wheeler presented her new bars dismount of a Piked Double Arabian and with a 1/2 out. Georgia also showed her Double Twisting Yurchenko from the vault boxes, as well as her Front Layout 1 1/2 twist into the pit.

Fiona Coley came into camp fit and trim with a beautiful new floor routine choreographed by Stacey Umeh with music from "SAW 3". Fiona also has upgraded her tumbling passes and bar routine.

Britt Greeley demonstrated her "Wiler Kip" on bars, a unique connection to a Gienger and the also showed her Hindorff on bars.

Emma Collister performed a great Shaposhnikova to an uprise combination on bars. Emma's beam dismounts were dynamic and very much improved.

Naomi Lee has completed her Compositional Requirements on bars now with a good Overshoot to Handstand from high bar to low bar. Naomi also verified her double layout dismount from bars.

Shar-lee Clark will challenge for a spot on the next selection with an improved training regimen and some great skill.


Overall, National Coach Peggy Liddick, was happy with the improvements. There are still quite a few gymnasts recovering from post-World's surgeries: Bonora-ankle, Miller-foot, Mitchell-hand and with Morgan still recovering from her subluxed patella.

The next camp will be at the end of March and will include the 2010 Pacific Rim Trials.

Four for you, Georgia Wheeler, you go Georgia Wheeler!

Have Your Say

Exciting news!

You, yes you, sitting there, reading this, being shiny and lovely and wowIlikewhatyou'vedonewithyourhair, can vote on who makes the 2010 PacRim competition program front cover!

Head to the 2010 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships page at Facebook, click on the 'Discussions' tab and nominate a male or female gymnast who you think is cover-worthy.

Now, being a Pacific Rim event, I take that as being open to any gymnast from the countries taking part - Sui Lu, Elsa Garcia, Koko Tsurumi, Phil Rizzo, Danell Leyva, for example - though I have an inkling they might prefer for only Australians to be nominated...

Group Hugs

It's less than a week until Australia Day!

Here is a sweet little article on the Aussies and Canadians who help make up the Oregon State gymnastics team.

The Australians are fun-loving and outgoing. They are a source of comedy and lighten the mood during tense training sessions.

U.S. teammates love to mimic their accents, just as much as the Australians loved to spoof the Valley Girl accent.

"I found they found me as a bit of a novelty at first," Vivian said. "They repeated me, trying to say the funny words we say. So I was able prepare them for Mel."

Photo and text courtesy of The Gazette Times.

Two Cute

Epping YMCA gymnast and junior national squad member Emma Nedov was featured in the news last week.


You can see a small gallery featuring Emma and her sister Maddy (also a gymnast) here.


Thanks to the anonymous poster for pointing it out.

PacFan

Tomorrow, January 19th, marks 100 days until the 2010 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships!

You can become a fan of the event at Facebook here (no, I didn't start the page) or follow it at Twitter!

More Surprises

Oregon State once again toppled the competition (Ohio State University, with whom they evidently juggle initials-honours), with Aussies Olivia Vivian and Melanie Jones hitting nice routines to help them do so. Olivia, I should mention, was sustained a finger injury in bars warm-up and thus didn't compete her pet event, but went on to perform on beam and floor!

"I'm really very proud of this team. They really fought through a lot of adversity losing two competitors at the beginning of warm-ups," head coach Tanya Chaplin said. "Nothing is easy in this sport and each gymnast has to fight for each score. It was great to have Olivia fight through her injury and come back on the floor and beam."

See Mel and Liv on beam in the video below. Mel puts injury and last week's errors behind her to complete a steady routine for the Beavers (9.775 score). Listen out for a team-mate calling her "Jonesy"! Olivia's routine (9.650) may not be astronomically difficult when you look at the routines put together by higher-ranked schools, but by gosh, I like that Y-scale! And yes, one of her nicknames is "Olive".




You can catch Olivia's live-wire floor routine again in the video below (9.700) The audio's better this time around, and look out for that collegiate gymnastics staple: team-mates on the sidelines imitating the choregraphy!

Morris Major

I like a nice surprise, me.

I got some fantastic news during my tea break at work this morning. Eyewitness accounts can attest to me nearly up-ending my drink with excitement.

An old, dear gymbuddy of mine has finally hit the big time- Aerial skier (skiier?) David "Dangerous Dave" Morris will represent Australia at next month's Winter Olympics in Vancouver!



*thuddy music, fireworks and yappy dogs in backyards*

Hurraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!

Dave had a fantastic World Cup performance over the weekend, clinching a 12th world ranking (talk about a personal best!) and a guaranteed berth at the Games. Dave was always an encouraging, thoughtful young man who entertained and inspired all the gymnasts he coached and competed alongside. He also has a lovely family that has supported him the whole way. A medal couldn't go to a more deserving guy. Let's not forget: at present, Dave is Australia's ONLY male aerialist, and the first male in the AIS national aerial ski team for 10 years.

Eastern suburbs ex-gymnasts REPRIZZENT!

....or something.

Happy Birthday To...

Waverley's own Weasley twins, Emma and Rachel Collister!


What a lovely pair (harhar)! They turned 15 today and are both sitting pretty on the Junior National and Olympic Squads.

Here's hoping they got their own cake each to celebrate. Go You Big Red Wondertwins!

Points of Interest

1. Photo of the Day!

(Thanks to Stoddard Reynolds of Oregon)

2. WAG squads announced.

SENIOR NATIONAL SQUAD
GEORGIA BONORA (VIC)
SOPHIE BUDACK (NT) *
ALEX BYERS-ARMSTRONG (VIC) **
FIONA COLEY (VIC)
EMMA DENNIS (VIC)
BRITT GREELEY (VIC)
EMILY LITTLE (WA) *
ZOE LORENZIN (VIC) *
LARRISSA MILLER (QLD)
LAUREN MITCHELL (WA)
MARY-ANNE MONCKTON (NSW) *
SHONA MORGAN (VIC)
GEORGIA SIMPSON (WA) *
GEORGIA WHEELER (VIC) *
* Denotes Athletes elevated from Junior to Senior National Squad
** Denotes New Senior National Squad Member

SENIOR - AIS/GA OLYMPIC SQUAD
GEORGIA BONORA (VIC)
FIONA COLEY (VIC)
BRITT GREELEY (VIC)
EMILY LITTLE (WA)
ZOE LORENZIN (VIC)
LARRISSA MILLER (QLD)
LAUREN MITCHELL (WA)
MARYANNE MONCKTON (NSW)
SHONA MORGAN (VIC)
GEORGIA WHEELER (VIC)

JUNIOR NATIONAL SQUAD
GEORGIA-ROSE BROWN (VIC)
NIKKI CHUNG (WA) *
GRACE CLARINGBOLD (VIC) *
SHAR-LEE CLARK (QLD) *
EMMA COLLISTER (VIC)
RACHEL COLLISTER (VIC)
ASHLEY COONEY (WA)
ANGELA DONALD (VIC)
TIERRA EXUM (VIC)
LAURA HINGSTON (VIC) *
NATALIA JOURA (WA)
AMAYA KING KOI (QLD)
NAOMI LEE (NSW) *
AMELIA MCGRATH (VIC) *
EMMA NEDOV (NSW) *
SVETLANA SANDERS (VIC)
KATIE WURTH (QLD) *
* Denotes New Junior National Squad Member

JUNIOR - AIS/GA OLYMPIC SQUAD
GEORGIA-ROSE BROWN (VIC)
NIKKI CHUNG (WA)
EMMA COLLISTER (VIC)
RACHEL COLLISTER (VIC)
ASHLEY COONEY (WA)
ANGELA DONALD (VIC)
NAOMI LEE (NSW)
AMELIA MCGRATH (VIC)
EMMA NEDOV (NSW)
KATIE WURTH (QLD)

I am personally quite pleased with these. The junior lists are particularly promising.

Back in Black (and Orange)

Olivia Vivian and Melanie Jones helped Oregon State University to their first team win of the season on Friday.

Olivia competed bars (9.875) and floor (9.75) (and beam!), while Mel did beam only and suffered a fall (9.3). The OSU girls managed to hold off the other college teams to take the Salbasgeon Suites Invitational team title.



You can see video of Olivia's rockin' rollin' new floor routine here. Nice work from the girl who usually specialises on bars - watch out for the drilled double pike landing! Gotta love that AC/DC action (not to mention the hint of Lauren Mitchell on the second tumbling pass...)


You might also be wondering what happened to Monique Blount, who headed to George Washington University last year as the other Aussies headed to Oregon.

Well, Monique is having a bad run of injuries that are keeping her off the floor. She was out for all of last year, and unfortunately has now injured her ACL, meaning she also has to kiss 2010 goodbye. However, reports from the college say she is on track for recovery, and will be ready to proudly represent the GWU Colonials in the 2011 competitive season. Get well soon, Monique!

Quick!

Someone steer a wheelbarrow of good wishes and luck up to Perth!

Lauren Mitchell is up for the The West Australian/ANZ Sports Star of the Year Award! Tonight! Strong competition comes from pre-ceremony favourite, pole vaulter and all-around lovely ginger Steve Hooker.

Good luck, Loz!

ETA: Sorry I didn't get to update this sooner. Thanks to Brindabella for the text message and the anon commenter for the link - she won Junior Sports Star of the Year! Hurray! Read about it here.

Alexandra The Great

Another nice gymnastics surprise popped up on my last day in Sydney - today's Sydney Morning Herald featured on article on gymnast-turned-diver Alex Croak. I didn't realise the high acclaim in which she was held by her fellow divers, including Olympic gold medallist Matthew Mitcham.

Read the article here.

2010: Entry the First

Captain's Log, stardate 01/01/10.


HAPPY NEW YEAR, ONE AND ALL!!!

I made it to Sydney safely, and of course, gymnastics didn't fail to follow me. As we got ready to disembark from our plane, I halted halfway down the aisle. The little telly screen was flashing up something about a gymnast! A gymnast doing bars! A gymnast that looked A LOT like Beth Tweddle! But of course, there was no caption and we hadn't been given headphones! Had she retired? Had she been in an accident? I frantically texted my network of fellow gymnutters, and got back the happy news that Beth had been awarded an MBE! I was very thrilled for her. What a way to finish the year!

I myself rang in the new year alongside 4/5 of my family, in a little park down from the Harbour Bridge. It was packed with families and brimmed with a chilled-out, festive atmosphere. People brought tents, rugs, marquees, chairs, blankets, picnic baskets, glowsticks, party hats, the whole shebang. It was brill! The fireworks themselves were just dazzling. It was my best New Year's celebrations ever.

So I hope you're all safe and well, and that your family pets didn't freak out with all the noise.

See you very very soon!


~Mez.


Oh, and something else milestoney happened to yours truly today...