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| MAIA INTERNATIONAL ACRO CUP 2008 |
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Acrobats from two Irish clubs, Carlow gymnastics club and Wexford gymnastics club, travelled to the Maia International Acro Cup, held in Maia, Portugal from 6th – 9th March 2008. Nine countries were represented in the competition; the USA, Portugal, Spain, Wales, England, Belgium, Italy, and Porto Rica. While this was the second year of the competition, it was the first year that acrobats from Ireland were competing.
Representing the Carlow club under coach Aimi Baker were two women’s pairs in the 11-16 Age Group section; Sara Rennick and Tricia Sloyan and also Grace Miller and Anya Farrell. Representing the Wexford club under coach Roisin Kavanagh was a Junior women’s trio consisting of Aisling Daly, Kate Kehoe and Jessica O’Brien.
The two teams arrived on Thursday afternoon and went straight into a 2 hour training session (after 11 hours of travelling!!). Friday was podium-training day where all the teams had allotted time on the competition sprung floor to practise their routines. It was an early start on the Saturday for the two young women’s pairs, with warm up starting at 8am, and competition starting at 9am. The 11-16 pairs competed their balance routine in the morning. They both had an excellent start to the competition performing clean routines, with Grace and Anya lying in joint 7th position with a score of 26.65, and Sara and Tricia in 14th, with a score of 25.85. The junior trio showed off an impressive dynamic routine, landing all their moves excellently, and finishing the first rotation in 7th place with a score of 26.35.
On Saturday afternoon, everyone performed their second routine. Sara and Tricia were up first for the Irish, and did an excellent dynamic routine, scoring an impressive 26.80, which brought them up to 10th place in the overall standings, narrowly missing out on a place in the finals. A great score for their first ever competition together. Grace and Anya scored 24.3 for their second routine, finishing in 14th overall. They were disappointed with their score as they had the potential to make finals but unfortunately received a 1.00 mark penalty for missing a dynamic move. Aisling, Kate & Jessica performed their balance routine, receiving a score of 20.8, finishing in 10th place overall. This was a great result for both clubs, as it was the first International for all three groups at their respective levels.
The team results were decided by the end of Saturday evening. Very few countries or clubs had full teams, and this is certainly a section that clubs from Ireland could strive to be involved in next year, if we can send full teams. Sunday was finals day, which was a fantastic display of top acrobatics. There was an extremely high standard at all levels in the competition, especially from the USA and Belgium and it was a great opportunity for the girls to watch some of the best acrobatics from around the world and be inspired to train harder, and aim higher for their next International!
The competition was extremely well organised by the Maia club committee, and was thoroughly enjoyed by both competitors and coaches. We will certainly be back next year!
Final Scores:
11-16 Age Group:
Sara Rennick & Tricia Sloyan 52.5 - 10th place
Grace Miller & Anya Farrell 50.95 - 14th place
Junior:
Aisling Daly, Kate Kehoe & Jessica O’Brien 47.15 - 10th place
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