By Carl Field
Three Welsh gymnasts have made history after being named in the Great Britain squad for the 2022 TeamGym European Championships.
Toby Stewart and Noah Higgs (both aged 15) and Sam Kirby, 16, who all train with Evolve Gymnastics Academy, are included as part of the junior men’s team for the championships, which are being staged in Luxembourg from 14th-17th September.
In doing so they become the first male gymnasts from Wales to be selected to represent GB in TeamGym.
https://twitter.com/WelshGymnastics/status/1524002308702486528
The trio all train with the Evolve club out of the World of Gymnastics Centre (formerly Islwyn Gymnastics) in Cwmfelinfach.
Toby attends Caerleon Comprehensive School while Noah goes to Cardinal Newman in Rhydyfelin and Sam attends Coleg y Cymoedd.
Last month, the trio all bagged medals with their Evolve club at the TeamGym British Championships in Sheffield. All three helped Evolve win silver in the in the junior mixed competition, while Sam and Toby also took home silver in the junior mixed micro competition.
They now look set to become the first Welsh gymnasts, male or female, to compete for Britain in TeamGym.
https://twitter.com/BritGymnastics/status/1528106818790117376
In 2020 Newport’s Olivia Gauregui had the honour of becoming the first Welsh gymnast, male or female, to be selected for the Europeans.
She was selected in the GB junior women’s squad, however the 2020 event in Denmark was cancelled due to COVID-19 before injury kept her out of last year’s event in Portugal. She remains on the sidelines and is currently undergoing injury rehab.
Still a relatively new discipline, TeamGym is a competition for clubs and consists of three sections: women’s, men’s and mixed teams.
Each team comprises of a minimum of six and a maximum of 12 gymnasts, where gymnasts can show their skills in three different disciplines: floor, trampet and tumbling. All three require effective teamwork, excellent technique and spectacular acrobatic elements.