Pick of the Vics

It was a mixed bag of performances from the seniors and juniors last night.

I have to admit I was a little disappointed that not a great deal of publicity seemed to be given to the guest MAGs - basically the entire Commonwealth Games team was competing except for Jefferis - which was extremely exciting to watch. Then again, this isn't their state so precedence of course would go to the hometown boys.

Now, I did film some routines but they will take a while to go up as I am still without a working high-speed internet connection. So until then, check out Nade00 or MistySakura's channels at YouTube. They did a cracker job capturing the many routines that zigzag your eyes around the arena as MAGs and WAGS compete side by side!


Extended notes for anyone who didn't catch my tweets at twitter.com/ozgymblog:

- Angela Donald was withdrawn due to injury. Georgia Bonora was on the sidelines with her foot in a boot, and was wearing her Australia tracksuit top to help hand out the team medals at the end. Amelia McGrath did not compete. Zoe Lorenzin and Tierra Exum watched from the stands. A tweeter on the ground told me Brittany Engellener of JETS sustained a back injury in vault training.

- Everyone kept thinking they were watching Angela Donald, but it was impressive lookalike Ulln Sternburg in the Waverley leotard instead. Not much is known about this intriguing newcomer, although I did see her being interviewed by The Couch Gymnast so we may have some insight before the weekend is out! I only caught half of her beam routine which included a switch split leap to back tuck, dainty Korbut flic and roundoff double twist to finish.

- Peggy Liddick and Stacey Umeh were watching from high up in the stands. Oh, to be a fly on the wall!

- For a girl who is reportedly injured, Maryanne Monckton put it in one of the performances of her career. The only significant error was a fall on her bars release (to be named after her if successfully performed at a Worlds) but she recovered from it to stick her double layout dismount. She vaulted a Yurchenko full if memory serves. Beam had a few significant wobbles but a nice double pike dismount, as she turned out to be one of the few to avoid a fall on that apparatus. Floor was absolutely stellar, with dramatic choreo, a nice triple twist, Y-pirouette, double tuck and double pike to boot! The VWHPC girls were cheering their lungs out for her.

- Britt Greeley also put in a commendable comeback performance after a prolonged back injury. Vault was a stuck Y1.5 with bent knees. She showed a lovely double pirouette on beam and a switch leap to back tuck but fell on her BHS LOSO and her double tuck dismount. Floor was a great effort with her "Remember The Name" music, but she sat down her double arabian opening pass and had a low chest landing on her double tuck and double pike.

- Georgia Wheeler showed some big skills but seemed a little off tonight. She was another to show off a nice double layout dismount off bars (I am loving those!) and a nifty tkatchev, but couldn't save an otherwise error-dotted routine. It had a bizarre start where she saluted, mounted with a glide kip and then paused; cast, Weiler kipped and paused; remounted to do a very nice Shaposh then lost her rhythm, then hopped off and re-mounted to go on and complete the routine with a small form break before the end. Her new floor routine (to techno) definitely gets the crowd going and is full of energy, but almost too much energy - she stepped OOB on her double arabian to open and her punch layout full (1.5?) twist through to double tuck.

- Ashleigh Brennan competed with poise, and praise for her HPC teammates. She showed a lovely bars routine but downgraded the double layout dismount to a double tuck and had to take one step. She showed a rock solid beam routine (all Beijing skills back in there) until she fell on her side somi (which always seems to be the clincher for her), only to recover with a stuck double pike dismount. She showed off a new floor routine to classical-techno music with vocals, similar to Georgia Rose Brown's. The new choreo is stylish and striking, she showed great form on her tucked full-in mount but unfortunately put her hands down on a double pike dismount.

- Speaking of Georgia Rose Brown, have I mentioned enough times that I could watch this girl all day? Even just warming up choreography on the sidelines? She showed beautiful lines in her giants and toe-on on full on bars, catching her gienger and straddle jaeger well and making a good job of her double front dismount. Vault was a Yurchenko full with good form throughout and a not-too-shabby landing. Her dance on beam was just divine, she showed great leaps and a nice Y-pirouette with a slight wobble, but fell twice and practically faceplanted on her double pike dismount. Floor showed some of the most elegant dance of the whole session, and she executed her layout 1.5 to punch front nicely. She had a large pause before her last pass, a double pike, and finished behind the music.

- Alex Eade didn't have the best of outings. She stumbled backward and fell onto her back in her Yurchenko full. She then lost her rhythm early into her bars routine after a neat tkatchev and had a few small form breaks, stumbling forward on her double layout dismount. Beam was dainty (walkover mount was nice to see) but she seemed uncertain in just about everything, going on to fall twice. Her BHS back whip was fantastic, as was her pike jump. She had a huuuge wobble after her side somi, showing how much of a bugbear that skill is for the women on beam, and one step back on a double tuck dismount. On floor she debuted her flamenco routine which has lots of fun facial expressions to go with cheeky choreography and "clap along!" moment. She did a layout full twist that seemed like she had suddenly opted out of a double. Her twisting passes are nicely executed overall and her double pike dismount needed just one step back to control.

- Isis Lowry competed with the help of the world's loudest and most upbeat cheer squad - JETS clubmates! Showed a lot of attack in each of her beam skills and unfortunately suffered a fall in the process. Her BHS LOSO was one of the strongest and neatest shown in the competition and got some serious air on her double back dismount. Opened her floor routine with a slightly overcooked double pike that showed great height, and managed to keep her twisting passes in bounds. She sassed up the choreo to the max (jazzy version of Rage Against the Machine's "Kiling In The Name", hilariously enough) and showed she is definitely one to keep an eye on!


- Prashanth schooled EVERYONE on pommel, scoring 6.6/9.5 for a 16.1! He got a huge cheer as he finished his routine, making up for a less-than-stellar routine on parallel bars earlier in the competition.

- Skills of note - Clare O'Donnell's press to double stag planche beam mount, Stella Savvidou's nailed double pike on floor, Sam Simpson's double layout to front tuck on floor (which got a massive cheer), Monckton's triple twist, Luke Wiwatowski's high bar release (Voronin? Gosh I am rubbish at identifying releases!), Georgia Wheeler's huge pike jump on beam.


- The crowd got to meet Bounce, the GV "spokes-sugar glider", who is as nimble as he is cute with his gigantic mammaly head.


- My sincere apologies for not recording scores, there was just SO MUCH GOING ON AT ONCE!

- In terms of the standings, the visiting Christchurch team (who reeked adorableness in spades) won the women's IDP10 team title, and MLC took top honours for jnr/snr combined team. The WAG all-around standings after Day 1 are Monckton 1, Brown 2, Brennan 3. It is unclear yet whether I will attend Monday's session but if all falls through, AGB's helper elves are sure to make up for my absence.

Read The Couch Gymnast's previews, reviews and interviews at GV here.

WAG News Round-Up

April? More like ace-pril!

1. A sweet article on Nationals-bound bars anchor for Oregon State, Olivia Vivian, that recently got forwarded to me.

2. QLD's Natalia Joura featured briefly on Channel Ten's "Totally Wild". Apologies if the link doesn't work.

3. Check previous post's comments for notes and observations from the VWHPC Invitational (which I unfortunately missed). The highlight? Zoe Lorenzin's Yurchenko double!

4. Pacific Rim alternate Emma Nedov featured in a North Shore Times article last week.

The Year 10 Brigidine College student impressed the judges after executing a difficult flip, flip, lay-out manoeuvre.

“That’s a very difficult skill and [Australian representative] Lauren Mitchell and I are the only two girls in Australia who are doing it,” she said. “It’s something I am proud of when I stick it and it makes my beam [routine] more interesting.”

Speaking of Lauren Mitchell, please be advised that she is reported to have withdrawn from the upcoming Glasgow World Cup.

Thanks to everyone who has sent me news and observations from the world of Aussie gymnastics. Keep 'em coming!

Painting the Town Pink

The "P" in VWHPC stands for "Performance" but on March 5th, it could stand for a lot of things - preparation, presentation, precision, poise, perspiration, perfection, personality, planches, punches, pikes and pointed-toes, but mostly it'll stand for Pink!

The Victorian Women's High Performance Centre (in Prahran, how Perfectly aPProPriate!) is hosting an open day at training once again.

See the event's Facebook page here and find out more about the gym here.

All are welcome to attend from 8am onwards, they simply ask that you make a donation at the door which will go towards the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

Yours truly will be there!

The Road to Nationals: Queensland

I don't like tomato sauce, but I do love a good source.


Some news, notes and videos from Queensland state titles begin.... right now!

********************************************************

"Moreton Bay College was the great winner at the Saturday portion of the Queensland State Championships, winning all three of the all-around titles as well as the majority of the event golds in the IDP 10, Junior International and Senior International categories.

Georgia Godwin dominated the IDP 10 competition, winning all five gold medals and showing the best beam routine of the evening in the process.

Amaya King-Koi took the Junior International title as well as three apparatus titles.

Last but not least, Larrissa Miller won the Senior International title plus the vault and bars golds. Miller has not quite returned to full difficulty yet, but is certainly on her way back from injury. She looked considerably more stable and determined here than she did a few weeks ago at the SEQ Regionals, and showed greater difficulty on several events, although she seems to have left out some of her more problematic skills at the same time.

The competition was marred by a great number of falls. The worst of the lot claimed Delta’s Kristy Bishop, a serious contender for the national Level 10 title. Bishop suffered a bad landing on her opening pass and had to be carried off the floor. She had to watch the rest of the competition from the sidelines. There was no sign of Peggy Liddick at the competition, but former Queensland star Chloe Sims was on hand to distribute medals."


Senior International

"Larrissa got off to a decent start on bars, where she seems to have dropped her problematic Adler for the time being to concentrate on her other skills. She was slow on a giant-full and had a large leg separation on her Gienger, but was solid elsewhere. She also started well on beam, where she stuck her flic-layout step-out (which seemed to give her problems at Regionals) cold. Sadly, she later fell on her power skills (punch front, back tuck, 2.5 twist dismount), where her sore foot seemed to be bothering her. She opened floor with a fall on her double Arabian and finished with another fall on her 2.5 twist, but it was good to see her attempt more difficult tumbling. She finished the competition with a very good layout Yurchenko-full (hop on the landing) for the gold.

Karina Brooks hit a very decent bar routine featuring a hecht, piked Jaeger and double pike dismount (big step). She also showed the most stable beam routine of the three Senior International girls, and remained mostly error-free on floor. Sadly, her difficulty was not quite up to par here (double tuck, 1.5 twist to tucked punch front, layout front full twist, double twist). I missed her vault, but I think it was a layout Yurchenko. Brooks was considerably more stable here than at Regionals, and showed some good work, but will have to upgrade considerably to be a contender for international assignments.

Bridget Beattie started off well on bars, where she hit a fine routine featuring a piked Jaeger and a stuck double pike dismount. She showed good jumps on beam, but fell on layout step-out and side aerial. She wasn’t faultless on floor either, falling on a double pike and suffering a deep landing on her double tuck. I think she vaulted a layout Yurchenko, but I’m not sure.

Sophie Budack sadly didn’t compete."

Results
All-around: 1) Miller, 2) Brooks, 3) Beattie
Vault: 1) Miller, 2) Brooks, 3) Beattie
Bars: 1) Miller, 2) Beattie, 3) Brooks
Beam: 1) Brooks, 2) Beattie, 3) Miller
Floor: 1) Beattie, 2) Miller, 3) Brooks


Junior International

"Amaya King-Koi was the cream of the crop in the Junior International competition. She started off with a fairly successful bar routine, marred only by poor handstands and a weird moment when she seemed to hit the low bar with her feet while kipping out of her Jaeger. She handled the incident well and finished her routine (which is improving all the time) without any other problems. She also stayed on the beam, where her worst deductions were major wobbles after her back tuck, change-leg split leap and 1.5 turn. Her floor exercise was marred by a fall on her dismount, which was probably supposed to be a double pike but looked more like a double tuck – the second one in her routine. She was solid on her other passes and dance skills. Her vault was a slightly piked and bent-legged Yurchenko-full.


Katie Wurth took the silver. Wurth looked slightly less impressive here than she did at Regionals, but still showed some lovely work. She vaulted a full-twisting Yurchenko (piked down, big hop). She was one of very few gymnasts in the competition who seemed to hit her toe shoot to high bar on bars, but wasn’t able to cast out of it and had to pause on top of the high bar after her kip. Her pretty beam routine was sadly marred by falls on the sheep jump and Onodi. She went out of bounds on her second pass and lacked a bit of difficulty, but was as always beautiful to watch on floor.

Natalia Joura (competing with a heavily strapped left ankle) didn’t have the greatest competition. She landed her Yurchenko-half vault on her bottom and also fell on her Jaeger, which she seems to perform very far from the bar, resulting in frequent falls. She also fell several times on beam, among other skills on a punch front. She finished her competition with a fairly successful floor exercise featuring a double pike, 1.5 twist to layout front, double twist, double tuck and triple turn. She has great form on nearly everything she does but seems to be desperately in need of some consistency.

Shar-lee Clark didn’t have the best of competitions either, starting with an unsuccessful bar routine (good Jaeger, dead hangs on both toe shoots, low bail-half, no handstands, fall on full- in dismount). She counted four falls on beam and also took some deductions for lack of split on her jumps. Her floor exercise featured a double pike, layout front to tucked front, 1.5 twist and double twist. She finished with a fairly decent handspring piked front vault but didn’t seem too happy with her competition."

Results
All-around: 1) King-Koi, 2) Wurth, 3) Joura
Vault: 1) King-Koi and Wurth, 3) Clark
Bars: 1) King-Koi, 2) Joura, 3) Clark
Beam: 1) King-Koi, 2) Joura, 3) Wurth
Floor: 1) Wurth, 2) Joura, 3) King-Koi


IDP 10

"Georgia Godwin owned the IDP 10 competition, receiving the highest scores on all events. She showed good swing in her bar routine, but suffered a dead hang on her toe shoot, some leg separations in the giants and a lack of difficulty on her dismount (a layout flyaway). She was solid on balance beam, where she showed a gorgeous side aerial-layout step-out combination and a stuck ff to back tuck. Sadly, her change-leg split leap, full turn and punch front were a bit on the wild side and she didn’t have a real dismount either (again, a layout timer), but it was an impressive routine nevertheless. She also showed excellent tumbling on floor but suffered an uncharacteristic fall on her closing double pike (overrotated). Her vault was a somewhat piked Yurchenko-full. Keep an eye on this one – she needs more maturity in her presentation but has tons of potential.

Brittany Boffo started her competition with a nice bar routine which featured a successful toe shoot (gasp) and nice stuck dismount. Sadly, she collapsed on the bar on a giant-full. She also counted two falls on beam (ff-layout step-out and side aerial) and generally seemed to lack confidence, but did show a nice planche mount and good form on her acro skills. Her floor tumbling was solid, although she did go out of bounds on one of her passes. Her vault was a stuck piked Yurchenko.

Third place went to Tianye Boorman, who started off with a bar routine featuring a dead hang on the toe shoot, leg separations on the handstands and a fall on her bottom on the double back dismount. She counted many balance checks on beam, but showed good difficulty on floor, where she hit a double tuck and 1.5 twist to tucked punch front but fell on her closing 2.5 twist. She also fell on her piked Yurchenko vault.

Fourth-place Yasmin Budack showed some class on beam, where she showed off her beautiful lines to great effect but fell on a front somi. She was one of the more elegant and balletic performers on floor, working to slow music, but her difficulty left a bit to be desired. She vaulted a layout Yurchenko with a hop."


Results
All-around: 1) Godwin, 2) Boffo, 3) Boorman
Vault: 1) Godwin, 2) Budack, 3) Boffo
Bars: 1) Godwin, 2) Boffo, 3) Boorman
Beam: 1) Godwin, 2) Boffo, 3) Boorman
Floor: 1) Godwin, 2) Boffo, 3) Budack

The Road to Nationals: New South Wales/Victoria Day 1

Thanks to ChaChaKid for some footage of the NSW State Champs. Errors aside, Mary Anne Monckton rocks some pretty ace bars skills - that fancypants new piked shush and a double layout to boot! Don't sweat the small stuff, Mez, you put in a good effort.




And a brief junior/senior Vics report from Nade:

Georgia B looks the fittest of the 'veterans' by far. Easy double backs on floor, easy FTY, nice beam. Emma D has a new floor which is quite interesting!

Ashleigh B must have a beam DV around 6 looking at her skills today. They are all back. She was going well until she straddled the beam on something and lost concentration. Still, I think if she can get the routine consistent by worlds selection it's going to be hard to say no. Opened on floor with a full-in.

Georgia Rose did well except on bars where she had a fall on her toe full IIRC. Still, she seemed very happy with her performances. She now tumbles double pike, 1.5+punch layout, front double twist+stag, double tuck to finish. Amelia was solid on her best events, but scored under 10 on bars.

Georgia W was ok. Some hesitations on floor, she didn't do her double front.

Rachel Collister opened floor with a high full in [but] scored under 10.00 on beam.

VWHPC have a gorgeous new leo!

Nade has started putting videos up here. And the ever-vigilant MistySakura is also in the process of uploading videos. You guys rock!




Update - if you're a Facebooker, you can become a fan of/"like" Gymnastics Victoria and access some ace photos from the championships!

Semi-Breaking News!

Well now. Isn't this exciting!


A NSW trial spectator tells me Mary-Anne Monckton showed off a piked Shushunova on bars over the weekend! Apparently, this is a G-rated(!) release element that, if debuted successfully at a World Championships could - like the famed Dunn mount or McIntosh vault - bear her name in the Code of Points!

Well done to 'Other Mez' for mastering what sounds like a truly awesome skill, let alone competing again after bouncing back from a handful of surgeries!

(Not my hands. They could never look that good!)

Also, Georgia-Rose Brown got a little bit more love this week.

VHPC v2.0

You can see more videos from yesterday at MistySakura's channel here.

I've added some of Ade Foster's fantastic photos to the blog's official Photobucket account here.

AGB Goes to the HPC Yet Again

A-choo!

An epic storm has hit Melbourne and I got caught in the middle of it, right in the middle of the CBD. Never have I seen people line the streets for cover as hail set in, then whip out cameras to take photos of the giant hailstones! Alleyways and large thoroughfares got flooded, trains got stuffed around due to ice on the tracks, yours truly slipped down an escalator... it was pretty chaotic.

All I can say is - I hope the gymfamilies and gymfriends that went out to Prahran today, especially those that stayed for the second training session, got in an out safely! It's still bucketing down out there!

So, to the all-pink open day.

I have so much thanks and credit to give to the Women's High Performance Centre. Today had a bigger turnout than last year;s bushfire fundraiser, and will probably end up more financially successful, too. Spirits were high and intentions nought but good as the girls trained in their special GK pink leotards and ribbons, proffering pink cupcakes and raffle tickets alongside the parents association. Three cheers for you guys.

The seating arrangement was good this year, as you didn't have to go over bar wires or beam mats to get to the 'spectator' section. Mind you, where I was sitting didn't give me the best view of floor/vault, but gym parents will always get there early so I took that in my stride.

Now.... to the gymnastics! *dramatic flourish*



As I walked in, seniors were warming up beam. I took my seat and got ready for a day of action.

Naomi Russell -
One of my major focus points for the day (not... y'know, in a creepy way). Is this girl awesome or is this girl awesome? She was looking SO GOOD today. She was also keen to encourage her training partners, especially Tierra Exum. In the beam warmup I saw, she showed a lovely double pirouette that also features in her floor. Some of her friends came and sat in front of us, she had no qualms about chatting with them as she worked some bars releases and giants on the single bar over the foam pit.
Beam: Skills included a front somi mount (which I missed on video), a back tuck and a side somi. Also a double pirouette, becoming a common occurrence among the seniors. Will have to refer to my video to remember her dismount (double back tuck?)
Floor: Lots of bodies in the way so I couldn't quite see. She warmed up a switch split leap to split jump full, plus a double pike. She opened with the double pike and shows two quite nice double pirouettes (one with bent knee, one with leg at horizontal).
Vault: A couple of very nice Yurchenko 1.5's, lots of encouragement from Tracey P. At one point I believe she went for a Tsukahara full as well.
Bars: This girl ATTACKS the bars like an American gymnast. She showed great height and form on her straddle tkatchev and geinger on the single bar, nice 'Shap' to bail work on bars. It's the same lovely Naomi from 2006! She had a smile on her face the whole time.

Britt Greeley -
Work it, sister-girlfriend! This young lady is looking more and more like a contender for the big international assignments this year. She got a lot of the apparent kinks in her form worked out and hit lots of skills clean today.
Floor: Did her tumbles on the side mat, danced through on the floor mat. Still no sign of the double arabian, but her double pike looked nice and she really sells the choreo. Fumbled her pirouettes a little.
Vault: Yurchenko 1.5s, one or two a little tucked at the end but she really went hard for them. I wasn't looking at the time, but one of my co-attendees tell me at one point she did make what looked like a promising attempt at a Y-double.
Bars: GIRL'S GOT A HINDORFF, Y'ALL! And a pretty one at that. Dismount was a tucked full-in. She also worked on a tkatchev on the single bar.
Beam: Hm... Don't think I took notes for her. I might have taken video, stay tuned for that. I remember the warm-up looked good. Still no rulfova yet but nice acro skills otherwise (side somis, side aerial) and a double tuck instead of a twisting dismount.

Georgia-Rose Brown -
Proved any naysayers wrong today. Ro-Bro looked great! Very elegant and, from a distance, even Liukin-esque. A light, floaty carriage to her work. I almost didn't recognise her at first as she didn't have her hair in the usual bun.
Floor: A techno opera piece (complete with vocals, as is now accepted by the FIG). Double tuck to open, landed nicely. A laid out front 2.5 twist. Fell out of double turn. Punch front... I think it was a 1.5 twist? Full turn in Y-position (gorgeous), single back layout to close.
Beam: She warmed up, among her skills, another full turn in Y which she completed successfully in the actual routine. Her warm-up routine looked great. Double twist dismount.
Bars: Warmed up with kip to handstands on the low bar and toe-on giants on the high bar. I don't have notes for her bars because I believe I filmed it. I filmed A LOT today, my phone got a real workout!
Vault: No notes for this but I definitely got it on video. I think it was a Y-full.

Ashleigh Brennan -
This girl has NOT given up, she is definitely still fighting fit and smiling throughout. Versions of her two Olympic leotards are framed and displayed on the gym walls.
Beam: Most of her 2008 skills, but also showed a double pirouette. Side somi, side aerial, back tuck, BHS-LOSO. Helped Naomi chalk up and stay giggly.
Vault: Captured on video. Did one false run.
Bars: Still neat, with a little more attack this time around. On single bar, did a giant full to tkatchev. Nice stalder work. Fiona would hold up a length of rope across the pit for her to simulate where the low bar would be as she swung. She warmed up a double tuck off the single bar also but did her standard dismount off the unevens (I think... much of my bars view was obscured).
Floor: Still the Cold Case routine. Did her piked full in on the tumbling strip. A few single layouts substituted for normal passes.

Fiona Coley -
Didn't perform at all today, I'm sure, as I go back through my notes. She had the leo on and did some conditioning but didn't do any full routines. Not that we saw, anyway, and we were there from 8:40am.

Zoe Lorenzin-
Still as teeny as ever. I caught some of her beam on video and the bits of her floor that weren't obscured by the beams.
Beam: Included full turn in Y-scale. A side aerial and a side somi. Split jump, switch side.
Floor: Dance through. Hiphop-jazz music, with some violin for good measure. Full turn in Y-scale, double turn with leg at horizontal. Her mum says she's still working on her layout front handspring to double front that we saw last time.


Highlights and Miscellaneous Others-
Tierra Exum: I filmed her new floor routine. She's still as tall and as striking as ever. Finally controlling her double pikes.
Svetlana Sanders: Nice work from her today to cries of "C'mon Svetty!" which is still as adorable as the first time I heard it. Had elegant, sweeping floor choreo to middle eastern music. Opened with a double pike. Single layout. Punch front layout. Trained some piked jaegers on bars with a couple of other girls.
Grace (Claringbold? Flood?): Had a few rough goes at a piked jaeger on the single bar, caught a lovely one in the end.
Ebonie Boucher: Nifty (as Nade00 put it) roundoff to back tuck on beam.
Laura Hingston: Elegant as always, I'm pretty sure it's her who is working on a lovely onodi on the low beam. I love that skill when it's done well.


There was a lot going on at once today so I captured what I could with my stodgy phone. Nade's camera died but MistySakura helped saved the day, doing some tandem filming (and some doubling up, teehee). I thank both for helping me ID skills and gymnasts and for generally reeking loveliness. I also captured a couple of 'candid' moments on film, including Ash and Naomi having a laugh, gymnasts eating cupcakes, and a choreographer working with a young gymnast on her compulsory floor routine.

I really enjoyed myself today and once again thank the VWHPC for opening its doors to the public. I had the chance to say "Good luck this year!" to Ash on my way out and she beamed as she said "Thankyou!"

(Nade also overheard a sweet moment: "The classic moment of the day came when Alex Eade approached her dad at the end of the session and said 'Daaaad, I'm hungry', and he replied enthusiastically, 'Hi Hungry!' and put his hand out for her to shake." Fwaaaaaw....)


Please stay tuned for my photos and videos. In the meantime, stay warm and dry, Melbournians!

(PS- I'd like to give a special shout-out to the young lady who came up to me at the end of the session, recognised me [was it the shoes?] and said how much she loved the blog. That meant the world to me, and I wish we'd got to chat longer. Thanks heaps.)

(PPS- Hi Ashleigh's mum. I'm pretty sure you were sitting behind us. We wanted to probe you politely with questions but thought the better of it. Your daughter is ace... that's all!)

LATER...

You should be able to view my few, pitiful photographic efforts here.

Videos will show up here. Again, please excuse the quality. I will link to MistySakura's (and any others from the day that crop up) when they become available.

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!

Levels News

Some of you out there might be interested to know that the difficulty for National Levels 7-9 has been capped, providing more of an incentive for the gymnasts to keep moving up.


Cheerio.

She Did a What In The Where Now?

International Gymnast, covering the Japan Cup, wrote:

New Australian national champion Lauren Mitchell fell off from the beam on a flip flop, flip flop, layout full. On Saturday, it was obvious after her second flip flop she would fall. On Sunday the direction was a bit better on the skill, but it was still off, and it led her to fall again at the same point. However, she showed a good floor exercise and received applause from the audience.

Buh?
Snuh?
Guh?

Could this be for real? Or could it just be typo and they meant... well, something other than "full"? Mind you, confusing 'layout full twist' with 'layout to two feet' is a big stretch.

She didn't attempt this particular skill at Nats, and we know she had problems with just a normal ff-ff-layout series so I am surprised she'll have pulled it out here. Particularly with all the twisting trouble we've heard she had after her injury and what it's taken to get a new beam repertoire happening. I am intrigued by this apparent new development.

Hm...
Would love for a WA insider to confirm.

Meanwhile... photos!

You Might Like to Know...

...that Britt Greeley is working towards a Yurchenko double on vault and three consecutive releases on uneven bars.

You go, sister-girlfriend!

Are You Cereal!?

Wow.

I mean...just....wow!

Beijing Olympics Uneven Bars Final: China for the win.

In other news - less than a month 'til Nationals, people. Get adequately prepared to rock.

Somebody Call Benny Ninja

My guilty televisual pleasure is America's Next Top Model y'see...

Here's something you don't hear ranted about very often: poses. Notably, poses in women's gymnastics. Oh yes, Dwight Normile can go on and on about skills all he likes, but choreography and aesthetics are just as important as compositional difficulty.

There are some poses I'm getting particularly sick of seeing, in beam routines and on floor. They look a bit silly, but that doesn't stop numerous girls doing them (which is a sillier sight in itself).

1. The Finger Gun. Come on people, this isn't Spaced (big claps for you if you get the reference). It hit the height of ridiculousness when Elena Zamolodchikova (God love her) ended her 2000 Olympics floor routines with it and then, I kid you not, blew on her finger a la smoking pistols in a spaghetti western. Aussie example? Monette Russo.

2. The Straight Jacket. Looks worse when the bum is stuck out slightly. If you're not Betty Boop, I'd prefer not to see it. Aussie Examples? Georgia Bonora, Lauren Mitchell, Ashleigh Brennan.

Variations include The One-Armed Straight Jacket.

3. The Libra aka The Walk Like An Egyptian. It's just *foolish*, even if your music is Arabian-inclined. Aussie examples? Hayley Wright, Steph Moorhouse.

4. The Talk-to-the-Hand aka The Kung Fu Badass. I almost expect the lower, straightened arm to give a little "come get some!"-gesture like Neo in The Matrix. Aussie example? Lauren Mitchell.

Image credits: Minkus, Gymbox, World Gym Art, gymn-oz.net, Sing Lo, International Gymnast

Turning it Up to Eleven

Sorry, sorry, sorry. Computer has been MIA for about a week, very frustrating (particularly in the lead-up to the new academic year).

Anyway.
Thanks to eagle-eyed fans, news of upgrades in the Aussie women's squad has filtered through from judges and they sound quite spectacular. As witnessed at a recent Olympic Squad training camp:

- Dasha Joura is attempting an Amanar (Yurchenko 2.5 twist) vault and a double layout on floor (as seen in her recent Fox Sports interview) which would propel her up the AA rankings. She is also going to compete at the upcoming Friendship Classic in the USA this March so it will be a chance to unveil one or both of these skills. Still no word on her whip-triple twist.
- Shona Morgan is going for a Baitova (Yurchenko double) while Kerby Purcell is refining hers (she competed it at the recent IGI Chicago Style invitational)
- Lauren Mitchell, also slated to compete at the Friendship Classic, is putting a piked(!) arabian double front in her floor routine...watch out, Beth Tweddle!

The next big challenge for the team is the selection trial for the Pacific Alliance Championships team. By the looks of things, nobody's going to the American Cup but the girls will be training in the USA for a bit. Only four will be chosen, and those four are looking to better the silver medal efforts of the 2006 team (the only remaining member of which is Dasha). I think Miss Joura and Mitchell are locks, Ash Brennan is looking strong for a spot but heaven knows who would get the last one. No word on Chloe Sims' progress so perhaps Shona might get it...?

It must be said that the girls are really rebounding after the Stuttgart disaster, this is looking to be quite an exciting team with a genuine medal chance. Multiple medal chances, in fact. Nationals will be an interesting event this year with some impressive skills on show (last year, to be honest, left a lot to be desired). Here's hoping they continue to improve and hit some great routines as we hurtle towards Beijing.

Happy Belated Valentine's Day everyone. It's good to be back!

*^_^*

Edited to amend the Amanar-Baitova confusion. My bad. Big thanks to readers for correcting me; I read enough at GGMB, you think I'd have picked it up. Derr, Fred!

It's Not All Smooth Sailing

Bear with me, it's a bit of a roundabout, ranty entry today.

Gymnastics in this country - its governance, its prominence, its reputation in general - is not perfect. No doubt there are many who would admit that. There often lingers a sentiment of disinterest in the sport despite it being, in its international scale, one of the most watched and most followed sports at the Olympic Games. What I find of utmost concern (coming from an inexperienced fan's point of view) is the air of exasperation present within the coaching and spectator bodies.

Take for example Peggy Liddick's comments in the piece posted recently about Hollie Dykes' retirement. I highlighted her apparent lack of sympathy or good wishes for the athlete in question. I sensed almost some resentment there, like she was sick of Dykes 'stuffing her around' (as we say here colloquially and it's not the innuendo it appears to be :P) and being insecure and insincere in her competition focus and performance. These comments were dissected in various forums, and points were raised about the rate at which girls who COULD continue the sport suddenly aren't (cf. Monette Russo, Sarah Lauren, Karen Nguyen, Jasmine Webb and now Dykes). Girls who just seemed like their heart wasn't in it anymore despite the horizon of at least one or two more competitive years (in Webb/Lauren's case, four or five) ahead of them. Lauren dropped out before the 2003 Worlds and 2004 Olympics even though she was a Commonwealth Games gold medallist just a year before; Webb missed out on selection for the '07 team with her departure; Dykes has now left before the Beijing Olympics. The motivations behind these retirements were speculated about in great detail, as were the attitudes of people to them. National women's coach Liddick seems to be demanding a lot from particular girls but not advancing the skills of others. She seemed to care a lot if Hollie couldn't hit her side aerial on beam, but doesn't seem to mind tuck-jump-on mounts being done by many in the squad. She talked up Hollie in the newspapers quite a bit but never mentioned the second girl competing at the moment to get a Yurchenko double (Kerby Purcell). Let's have a go at addressing those problems (and the one of getting more of the squad members to international assignments!) first. If it's something you have the power to fix, try and fix it.

At the 2003 World Championships, the USA lost several of its valuable team members to injury and illness. Seeming desperate in the three-up, three-count routine team final format, they called up their alternates and still went on to win a historic team gold. A fantastic effort for them and testament to the high standard of athlete training in the United States. Upon losing team members from our own side during the same competition (and the Athens Olympics), Liddick made a remark that basically alluded to the size and standard of the national WAG squad as it stands - that we don't have a lineup we can whip girls out of and replace them with equally competent performers, we have a 'handful' of elites competing at an international standard. If we lost girls during a preliminary round, there's no way we could make up for lost ground in the final. Not all the girls are at the same skill level. Mind you, Australia's population vs the USA's is not exactly the crux of the argument here. As someone remarked, this "the squad isn't big/good enough" attitude is a poor excuse (particularly coming from the woman in charge of the program) and blame shouldn't rest on the gymnasts themselves. It's a reflection of the standard of facilities and coaching in this country, and I suppose to an extent the administration of the sport as well.

A lot of fans question Australian gymnasts and their approaches to competitions. I can count on twenty eight hands the number of times I've heard variations on the question "Why can't Aussie gymnasts hit in the big meets?" Why is it that so many of our best performers fumble when it counts? Just a few examples: 2000 Olympics team qualification round where several vaults were crashed; 2004 Athens Olympics team qualification round where bars routines were fluffed, steps out of bounds were taken on floor and rock-steady Russo fell off beam; 2006 Commonwealth Games all-around where Hollie fell on every apparatus but still managed the bronze medal; 2007 American Cup where Dasha fell off beam twice and nearly stacked her vault; 2007 World Championships where falls/mistakes were counted on three out of four apparatus and we nearly missed Olympic qualification by one place...

Why do we never have a whole TEAM of rock-solid, high-scoring individuals?

What brings out all the mistakes?

Is it nerves resulting from inadequate mental preparation?

Is it the tiredness that comes with being trained too hard?

Is it distraction from being in front of the cameras and crowd?

Is it fear of the Tall Poppy Syndrome that might come should they succeed?

What is it? What brings on the inconsistency? How can we rectify this problem? How can we stop gymnasts succumbing to fear and feelings of pressure and inadequacy? How can we keep our squad flourishing?

There are a number of solutions, not all of them concrete, that in my inexperienced and rather powerless opinion could help bring about change in the national psyche of this sport. Because I'm, like, heaps pensive 'n' all that :P

First and foremost, gymnastics deserves to be recognised in this country. You'll find that a lot of Aussies think gymnasts train hard for four years' straight and only come out at the Olympics, which they approach with a "we'll never get close to the Romanians anyway" attitude. That's our main problem right there. They're not noticed an in a sense go into major competitions with defeatist clouds over their heads. Nobody realises that girls are competing (and often winning) all year round. National championships and duel meets aren't advertised, they don't get television coverage anymore like the American Cup/VISA Championships do. Thousands upon thousands of Aussies tune in annually to the EJ Whitten Legends football match; an Aussie Rules Football match where a spritely Victorian team takes on a ragtag team of celebrities and retired players. Sadly, Australia's gymnastics duel against reigning World Championship gold medal team China only got a 30-second radio spot and a small mention in the Herald Sun newspaper, somewhere in the back. If more people could have known they were getting a fantastic Beijing preview for a fraction of the price and journey, no doubt the competition would've had a greater attendance. It's great that Liddick and the Gymnastics Australia folks can get our girls into meets televised on NBC, but why not campaign for Nationals to be shown on tv again here (they last aired on Foxtel about seven years ago)?

I'd very much like to see more of this.

Sadly, our gymnasts don't get to be public figures. Highly-paid, highly-photographed or otherwise, so there is little benefit reputation-wise for them. Gymnasts don't get the attention football players, one-off-medallists and pseudo-professional sportspeople do (cf. Stephen Bradbury/Joe Hachem/various stars on the wrestling circuit). They don't get lucrative sponsorship deals or interviews about their progress. I never saw Olympian Allana Slater walking the red carpet at a movie premiere or shopping centre grand opening, but I no doubt saw Russell 'Rusty' Thompson (benchwarmer from the Barrangarragal Bilbies football team) and Alina Bigboobskya (expat Ukrainian javelinist who came 5th at the Sydney Olympics and released her own erotic-photography calendar) walking arm-in-arm there. I know who I'd have rather photographed and interviewed. Mind you, when gymnasts do get interviewed, they're addressed like they're six years old and kept perpetually imprisoned in a cupboard all day every day save for training hours. *sigh* Part of me thinks it's due to the fact that gymnasts can't drink beer or eat a lot of party/finger food or stay out very late so promoters just think they're not worth inviting (the b*****ds). Matt Shirvington, God bless him and his famous assets, is a different story. I've heard he can down a plate of sausage rolls and a seafood platter faster than you can say "equine tranquiliser".

Jana Rawlinson won a gold medal in hurdles at the World Athletics Championships last year after returning to training from maternity leave. Good on her. Better her than me. She was on the front cover of national newspapers and was a guest at various luncheons and charity events. 'Our Jana' went for gold and she got it. Philippe Rizzo struggled through five years of injury to win a historic World Championships gold medal while suffering another injury in 2006. He was in the sports section of two Victorian newspapers, again somewhere near the back, was a fleeting sports update item on the news broadcasts of three stations, and was nominated online by his own brother to be a guest on Andrew Denton's insightful and popular interview show Enough Rope (something I found quite accidentally when I wanted to request on the show's web guestbook that I'd have liked to see Phillip Noyce get interviewed if he hadn't been already). Rizzo has not yet made an appearance. But don't worry, the guy who holds the World Record for belly button fluff-collecting and a jailed politician have. No, that one's not a joke.


Why don't gymnasts get the attention? They more than deserve it. It shouldn't be just the Olympic champion that gets to talk in schools and thank Mum and Dad and God for this Sportsperson of the Year Award. I find gymnasts incredible role models for young people (if you put to the very back of your minds the occasional Playboy spread and lies about athlete age). Gymnasts are fine examples of fitness, dedication, time management and sportspersonship. They're not the ones pursued by police overseas on drugs charges. They're not the ones starting fights in pubs and clubs. They're not the ones on tax evasion charges. They're not the ones slinging racial remarks on the field. I'd have found it rare (and altogether odd) two years ago for someone out in Chiswick-Upon-Crumpet to be burning Hollie Dykes effigies and waving Death to Her and Her Good Toepoint placards.

This? Not so much.

Also, I might add, the Australian Olympic Committee has made a chicken-and-egg move with funding that affects many non-mainstream sports. They introduced a Medal Incentive Funding scheme about a year ago, whereby any athlete that wins a world cup or world championships medal in their sport will receive a certain amount of funding. But only AFTER they win. So I feel sorry for the Olympic sports that don't get a great deal of fanfare or funding in the first place (badminton, tae kwon do, kayaking)... how are they going to challenge for a world cup medal if they can't really afford to get a whole team there in the first place? Seems a bit of an illogical rule.

And if, like the rest of us, GA is nervous about Australia's upcoming performances in Beijing, why don't they try and do what the US does and lobby to get equipment for the gym that's made by the Olympic suppliers? That's why they adapt so well when the big event rolls around: they've already practised on it. Literally, try and get the Olympic equipment at home. It's worth a try. Even if it's just the beam, as that's our nail-biter apparatus.

Ultimately (and here concludes the rant), I find it sad that there is so little benefit, so little incentive for gymnasts in this country, hence so much apathy on the part of the athletes and some coaches. It all comes out looking like a fruitless, thankless exercise. I can't help but feel that gymnasts will never get that highly publicised, everybody-stay-up-late-to-watch-them-in-finals, let's-all-gather-in-Federation-Square-and-watch-them-on-the-big-screen-together treatment we saw the Socceroos get in the FIFA World Cup Final.

I think that at a macro level GA needs to re-strategise this year about how to get the sport in the public eye and how to get the athletes more motivated. Support for the team needs to be evident in the lead-up to the Games, beyond just adolescent cheer squads at Nationals and a small Facebook group (*shameless plug*). On a micro level, Liddick needs to adopt a less scathing attitude with the athletes and work to get them more confident with difficult skills as they learn them with their coaches. Get them world-class, get them consistent, perhaps adjust the national qualification score to be slightly higher so all the hard work doesn't have to be done in Canberra alone, work not just with them but with their coaches as well. Just don't lament that it's out of your hands and that you've tried everything you can. There's always another way to approach something.

*hops down off soapbox*

G'night.

Reasons to be Cheerful

Ok, so we were all a bit down after the news of Dykes' departure. Well, the past 24 hours have brought some good tidings (though not particularly ones worthy of a choir and red pompom hat).

1. It was quite literally a matter of good timing. Last night in a fit of boredom I flicked onto the cable sports channel Fox Sports News. Which, to explain for any international readers, is...well, exactly what it says it is. A 24-hour sports news channel owned by the Foxtel (cable provider) network. Anyway, here endeth the extraneous information. I instantly had to chuck a video into the VCR as they began to talk about gymnastics (FSN as of late highlights football, cricket, rugby, cricket, cricket, golf, cricket, basketball, cricket)! It was a profile piece on the WAIS girls, namely Dasha and Lauren with some insight from their coach Martine George (who *really* deserves to take the reins from La Liddick for a day, she has a much better rapport with the athletes in my opinion). We saw them training on floor and beam respectively. Both were quite articulate in front of the camera, talking about their experiences at the Beijing Test Event, which they took back to share with their team-mates at training camp, and their expectations for the Games themselves. Dasha is rocking a cute little Betty-Boop style haircut and Lauren has braces (I feel your pain, little Loz!). Miss D talked about working with Adriana Pop, whom she liked very much, and thinks it must be reciprocated because "I can do my [floor] routine ... kinda okay!" with a modest laugh. Lauren did some acro skills on beam. No new ones, but she was sticking her punch front somi and two-footed-front-aerial-to-front-somi cold. Martine highlighted their World rankings and medal chances. We saw them also do a few tumbling drills on the tumbling strip and Dasha stood up a double layout. A DOUBLE LAYOUT, PEOPLE. How freaking awesome for her, hope she keeps working at it and puts it into her floor routine eventually. A couple of months ago we heard she was working on a whip-triple twist, so that's looking like some fantastic upgrading!

2. Sydney Olympics team member and 2002 Commonwealth Games medallist Alexandra Croak is looking to crack into the 'shadow' national diving squad from which the Beijing team will be named. Alex has already become the first ever Australian (male OR female) to medal at two consecutive Commonwealth Games in different sports (Gold with team and silver on vault in Manchester 2002; Silver with synchro partner Melissa Wu in Melbourne 2006). Good luck to them and all the divers this year.

Alex and Melissa: Synch or Swim in Beijing?

3. My tiny little blog is getting a tiny little following. *appwause* Thanks to people who have been giving me feedback, it is most helpful and above all: encouraging. You're the people I'm doing this for!

4. Melbourne got some rain today, albeit just a short shower! Two straight days of 40+ (celcius, up to 47 in parts of WA!) is just a leeetle bit exhausting.

Photos courtesy of Nade and Fairfax Media

Go Hard or Go Home

Upgrades and 'Tricks' I'd Like to See for '08 and Beyond...

aka Mez goes off into a heady, slightly ranty gymnastics-centred wish list

* Dasha Joura to get an Amanar vault (Yurchenko with two-and-a-half twist). She's got quite a lot of power doing the Y-double already and I think she'd definitely be a stronger chance for an all-around medal with a harder vault. Jade Barbosa is just one of the medal favourites performing the vault (she's doing the Cheng vault as well!), there has also been talk of world champ Shawn Johnson upgrading to it as well.


* Lauren Mitchell to put a half/full twist into her somersaults on beam or even attempt an arabian. Straight front tucks just don't really cut it, I'd love to see her up her difficulty (code permitting). She's mentioned in interviews that she will be adding skills to upgrade her routine in time for Beijing, maybe a skill like this will be in her repertoire. If Natasha Kelley can do it, Little Loz can do it!


* Someone like Mel Jones or Shona Morgan to get a Yurchenko double. I don't know if Kerby Purcell is old enough, but if she's not, we can't afford to have just one on the whole team!


* A Markelov/Khorkina on bars! Gosh I love those when they're done well. Someone with nice execution and good swings should have a crack at it, someone like Melody Hernandez (hopefully those retirement rumours were untrue), Hollie Dykes (ditto) or a dark horse like Fiona Coley (she of the exciting stalder -> immediate Pac salto).


* Something more than tucked double front/back dismounts off bars. I don't care who would do it, let's just mix things up a bit!


* Double layouts on floor. Last I heard Chloe Sims did one at QLD state champs/trials or something along those lines last year (one of the small comps in Chandler?) but apparently wasn't too successful on it. We saw footage of Hollie training one last year, and she did one in '05, but it never manifested itself in later routines so heaven knows what happened. I'd love to see a power package like Mel Jones go for one.


* No more running punch front fulls on floor as tumbling runs!


* Back layouts on beam to TWO feet. Nationals this year was somewhat disheartening, with the majority of girls doing back handspring -> layout stepout. Either just a single one, or doing two (and a little messily, I might scathingly add). I miss Trudy Mc's explosive acro sequences.


* Shona and Georgia B to distinguish themselves from one another. They have very similar skills on beam and floor, and for the past two years have been viewed as somewhat interchangeable in lineups. One was reserve at Worlds in '06, the other in '07. Of the dynamic Waveley duo, Shona could be the breakout gymnast on vault, where Georgia could pull out something suprising on beam. She does do a fantastic Rulfova...


*If Chloe has so much power in her running double front (to the point where she's run out of bounds or rolled forward, as we've witnessed on several occasions) they should consider having her follow it up with a punch front, like Daria Bijak used to. Unfortunately she often has the same problem on beam with her double front dismount. She should perhaps do a series before it *sudden insane realisation* could she try a Patterson (flip->flip->double arabian)!? ...nah, now I think I'm going too far :p

Who's Who in the Aussie Squad?

Australia kicked off its '08 Olympic Games preparations with the naming of the AIS/Gymnastics Australia Olympic Squad, from which the Beijing team will be named (Australia has qualified a full women's team and only one male representative to the Games) . Nationals this year will certainly carry a bit more weight, so no pressure, girls!

But just who are these potential Olympians? Please bear in mind that the following profiled athletes are senior competitors; some athletes visiting the Olympic training camp are juniors.

Without further ado, the girls vying for Olympic selection are...

Georgia Bonora (VIS/Waverley Advanced)

- Member of the 2006 and 2007 World Championships teams (acted as team reserve in the latter)

- Bronze All-Around, Beam, Floor at 2006 Nationals, 7th All-Around in 2007
The Quiet Achiever. Strongest on floor and beam, but would benefit from skill upgrades and tidying-up of leg form

Ashleigh Brennan (VIS)

- Member of the 2007 World Championships team

- 8th All-Around, Bronze on Floor, 4th on Beam at 2007 National Championships

- Gold with team and Silver on Floor at 2006 Commonwealth Games

The Dainty One. Elegant on floor and beam, but often appears nervous. Confidence is the key to consistency

Hollie Dykes (QAS/AIS) *

- Member of the 2006 and 2007 World Championships teams (7th AA in the former)

- Gold with team and on Floor, Silver on Beam, Bronze AA at 2006 Commonwealth Games

- 5th AA, Silver on Beam at 2007 National Championships
- Bronze AA at 2006 Pacific Alliance Championships

The Balletic Beauty. Capable of very high beam scores when she's "on", apparently working on double-layout on floor.

Daria Joura (WAIS)

- 2006 and 2007 National Champion All-Around, Vault, Floor
- Member of the 2006 and 2007 World championships teams (5th and 10th AA respectively)

- Gold on Floor, Silver on Bars, Bronze on Vault at 2007 Stuttgart World Cup

- Silver All-Around, Bronze on Bars at 2007 Beijing Olympic Test Event

The Star Performer. One of our best medal chances in the All-Around/Floor/Vault/Bars finals and a joy to watch competing; hopefully will get the floor scores she rightfully deserves this year

Melanie Jones (AIS)

- Member of Australian team, 2007 Aus v China/Aus v Japan

- Bronze on Vault, 2007 National Championships

- 6th AA at 2006 National Championships

The Pocket Rocket. Dark horse for a team spot, most likely Floor and Vault. A powerful gymnast who would benefit from skill upgrades (something national coach Peggy Liddick noted and seems to want to personally work on)

Lauren Mitchell (WAIS)

- 2007 National Champion on beam, Silver All-Around and on Floor

- Member of the 2007 World Championships team (5th in Beam final)

- Silver on Beam and Bronze on floor, 2007 Stuttgart World Cup

- Silver on Beam and 4th All-Around at 2007 Beijing Olympic Test Event
The Little Powerhouse. Best hope for a beam (and possibly floor) medal, needs to get the shakes out of her system. A gutsy tumbler who is garnering international attention

Shona Morgan (VIS/Waverley Advanced)

- Member of 2007 World Championships team

- 6th AA at 2007 National Championships

- Silver on Vault, 2007 National Clubs

- Member of 2007 Aus v China/Aus v Japan teams

The Suprise Package. Competent performances in 2007 Worlds team. Strongest on bars and floor but has much the same repertoire as club-mate Bonora

Chloe Sims (QAS/Moreton Bay College)

- Member of the 2007 World Championships team

- Bronze All-Around and on bars, Silver on vault at 2007 National Championships

- Gold on Bars, 2007 Aus v China

- Gold team, AA at 2006 Commonwealth Games

The Unpredictable One. Is on-and-off with consistency but the team could use her big beam and floor skills when the time comes

Olivia Vivian (WAIS)

- Member of the 2005 and 2006 World Championships team

- Silver on Bars, 2007 National Championships

- Gold on Bars, Silver with team at 2007 WOGA Classic

- Gold on Bars, Silver AA at 2007 IGI Chicago Style event

The Acquired Taste. Strongest on bars but execution scores are sometimes questionable. Don't know if it would be a smart move to put a sole-apparatus specialist on the team

Visiting Juniors:

Kerby Purcell (VIS) - Held in high regard for her powerful vaulting
Amber Fulljames (QAS) - Asset to the bronze-medal QLD team this year, dynamic on floor

Other Chances for Spots:

Emma Dennis (VIS) - National junior champion, competed well at the Japan Junior competition
Tain Molendijk (WAIS) - Another WA gem, with flexibility of movement and bright personality

*NB: Strictly speaking, Hollie Dykes is not listed on the Olympic Squad roster as it appears on the Gymnastics Australia website. If this is a true reflection of Dykes' standing in the national squad ranks a) I think this is a big oversight and might not work in Liddick's favour as b) Hollie scores higher on beam than Mitchell and has 2 World Championships and a CommGames under her belt. Even if she hasn't been a rock-steady performer of late, we'd definitely need her beam scores this year.

Photos from Gymnastics Australia/Australian Institute of Sport