British Junior Championships July 2009

This was the second time that Dundee 2K had gymnasts competing at the British Championships - the biggest competition in Britain and the only one that presents certificates to the competitors before any routines have been performed. That's how much it means just to have qualified for this competition!
 
Jordan Archibald, Kirsty Campbell and Hannah Kilcullen all competed in the junior section. Hannah in round one the others in round two, each of them in a different pool. This demanded a high degree of self-sufficiency and confidence. And then there was another little quirk that really got the nerves tingling: The rules were that gymnasts are relegated to the Challenge Cup if they score less than 44 points over the 4 pieces of apparatus.
 
This was a tall order for Hannah who had never scored so high under the new Code of Points. She started the competition on beam (...!) and was first up - oh dear. I don't know who was more nervous, Hannah or I. She started well, however, and only got into trouble once: her c-spin didn't work and she had a fall. 10.45 was a score she could live with if everything else went to plan. Next piece was the floor where Hannah was going to compete her double tuck in the first acro line. Confidently she started and stood the difficult tumble up. She continued her performance with skill and expression and was rewarded with a score of 11.85. So far so good. Vault was an easy piece for her: pike tsuk, flighty but with a large step on landing. Now there were only the bars to get through. And this was the moment she let her nerves get to her: the mo flew into the high bar and killed the swing. She struggled on bravely but had to take the penalty for an extra swing. She finished the routine with a big double back dismount - and another large step on landing... Would it be enough not to get relegated? The waiting for the score - and then: 9.15. Sandy Richardson, national coach and myself worked out her final score somewhat frantically. Unbelievably Hannah scored 44.05. She couldn't have cut it any finer but she made it!!! Well done!
 
The second round with Jordan and Kirsty started immediately afterwards. Jordan started on vault and Kirsty on bars. Jordan's handspring tuck front worked well even though it didn't land dead. On her second vault yurchenko straight she came on so quickly that she touched the vault table with her knuckles instead of her palms. But still, it was very respectable and in the end she had the 9th highest qualifying score. This placed her as first reserve for the apparatus finals on the next day. Kirsty meanwhile had a spot of trouble during the warm up. She just couldn't quite catch her gienger salto. The occasion clearly got to her a little and unfortunately she also fell on the gienger in competition. The score was 9.15. None of us had expected this and suddenly the 44 points were not as easy to achieve as we had anticipated. However, Kirsty showed her competitive side on beam. In the short warm up she looked as if she was ready to fight back - and so she did! She performed an absolutely beautiful routine with good split separation in her leap and strong, sharp landings after every move. Only the dismount went a little squint. Never mind. 11.95 would do nicely! Jordan was on bars at the same time and also did very well. No fall and never lost the swing. Altogether a solid performance. 10.95 the score. That settled the nerves a little. In the third rotation Kirsty was on floor and Jordan on the beam. Both warmed up well and were disciplined enough to repeat every one of their moves until they were just right. It paid off. Jordan had no falls and finished in 7th position with a score of 12.45 - this secured her a place in the apparatus final! What a surprise... Kirsty also went clean and scored a credible 12.3 on floor. Things were going well. The girls just had to keep a clean sheet on the last piece. Jordan still had floor to do and Kirsty finished on vault. Kirsty put everything into her handspring tuck front - and nearly over rotated it. She saved herself with a giant step forwards. 12.7 was the score. This gave her an overall score of 46.1 - well out of the danger zone! Excellent. Jordan meanwhile put her last energies into her floor routine. She looked a little tired and the tumbles were a little laboured but she still got through without a fall. Her overall score was a huge 48 points which placed her in a remarkable 12th position! What a day it was. Relief and happiness ruled.
 
On the Sunday Jordan marched on once again, this time to compete in the beam final. The girls she stood next to all had big names: Heathrow gymnasts Danusia Francis and Nicole Hibbert on one side and Welsh superstar Lizzy Beddoe and Liverpool's Jenny Pinches on the other. I couldn't have been more proud of Jordan. That she didn't quite manage to hold her nerve in this set up was forgivable I thought. She had a fall on the flip layout but kept the 7th position that she had qualified in. Adrian Stan had been watching the competition closely. He was clearly impressed with Jordan and as a result invited her to train with the British Squad. Wow! What an honour.
 
It was an exciting and utterly positive weekend for the gymnasts and coaches from Dundee. One to remember!
 
And last but not least: A big 'thank you' to Paul Carson who gave up his time to accompany us to Guildford and to do all that important talking that keeps everyone's spirits high. Cheers, Paul!