Colyton Grammar School students excel in International Gymnastics competition

News - May 5

Students Orlando (Year 10) and Enzo (Year 8) M have been members of Honiton Gymnastics Club since late 2017, latterly training in at least four sessions a week for a minimum of 3.5 hours each session, a significant commitment alongside their commitments to Lyme Regis Town Band, their school work and their free time.  

The boys have enjoyed success at regional and national competitions and were recently invited to compete in the Dinamic International Acro Cup in Valencia, Spain over the Easter Holidays, enabling them to gain some experience in an international arena with the outside hope of also gaining a medal. For Orlando and Enzo, it was possibly a once-in-a-lifetime chance to compete against other countries, to have fun with their coaches and teammates and to meet new people.  

On April 13th, the pair performed their routine in front of their first ever international crowd, with teams from Israel, Hungary, Italy, Canada, Germany and many other countries participating. By the narrowest of margins, the boys managed to qualify at the top of the leader board, with the competitors from Spain only 0.05 points behind them.  

The final routine took place in the evening with Orlando and Enzo scheduled to be the last performance of the day. Family, club members and other parents who had flown out to support their own children in the competition were on tenterhooks as the boys went through their display, including a pitch to catch, followed by a pike back and a croc manoeuvre, which involved Enzo balancing on his brother’s head with  one hand and his legs levitating upwards behind him. Points are awarded for execution, artistry and difficulty with penalties given for not holding moves for long enough, falling out of moves, failing to complete moves, wobbles and all manner of other blunders and foibles. On this occasion, good fortune favoured the boys with a well-executed, confident and controlled final performance.  

When the scores were revealed, there was palpable relief as the team and their families realised that the brothers had made it to first position and won their first international Gold Medal. This was a memory that they will not be forgetting any time soon.