Slough gymnasts excel on the national stage

ATHLETES from Slough Gymnastics Club are head over heels after winning medals while representing the South Region at the British Gymnastics Artistic Development Grades tournament held in Birmingham.

Two of the boys, Rio Chandiram, eight, from Farnham Royal, and  Charlie Cross, nine, from Windsor, were competing at the nationals for the first time, while Liam Cawdell, 10, of Farnham Common, and Owen Nickless, 11, of Windsor, had been there before.

In the team event, Chandiram and Cross both won silver medals as the South finished runners-up in the under-10s level 1, while Nickless won gold as the under-12s won in level 3.

There was also success for some of the boys in the individual events.

Competing against 71 other gymnasts, Cross took a silver medal in the under-10s level 1, and Chandiram came 16th.

Cawdell faced 65 boys and achieved a sixth place finish in under-11s Level 2. Nickless was eighth in the 58-strong under-12 Level 3 section.

As a result of their individual success, Cross and Cawdell have been invited to attend a four-day British Gymnastics training camp at the Lilleshall National Sports Centre next month.

All four boys have been training at Slough Gymnastics Club for more than four years and currently train 19 hours per week. They have been coached by Liam O’Brien although he has just taken up a new appointment as head coach at Milton Keynes Gym.