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Bletchley’s award winning Arabian Gymnastics club, was the only club in the whole of Southern England gymnastics championships to have 14 gymnasts qualify and incredibly have an 8 year old in round one and the eldest gymnast aged nearly 18 in the last round over the two day event.
( Pictured Hannah & Ellie)
Out of the 14 talented and most gifted girls they collected a massive record regional medal haul of 23 which included no less than 8 gold’s and champions on Floor, Bars, Vault and Beam. With 25 clubs taking part and 209 gymnasts competing the girls had no gymnast out of the top 17, quite an impressive record.
Becky Matcham aged 10 was the unluckiest of gymnasts as her slight step on her very last tumble was enough to cost her overall champion. Becky was a mere 00.2 from taking the title, she settled for a very close runner up spot but was crowned Champion and gold medalist on beam.
Right on her tail was the impressive 9 year old Millie Barnes who was just 0.15 behind, the smallest of margins indeed. Millie also collected bronze on beam and was placed as Bronze medalist overall, in what was the tightest of margins between the top three girls.
The club had an overall champion in Bex Whatmore ( pictures above thanks to De Photos) (17 ) who won Gold on every piece of equipment including her Balance beam which saw the most spectacular of elements and tumbles of the whole competition.
Tamzin Hill had a very good competition ending up in 6th place and also taking Bronze medal for her acrobatic vault. Tamzin aged 10 started her sport in the club’s baby gym so to reach the regional finals is a wonderful result
10 year old Katie Wood also came in 6th place and also won a bronze medal as well, hers was for her brilliant balance beam display.
Molly Harris aged 10 on the competition weekend, would have had a top 5 finish but slipped to 16th after two costly errors on bars, but she took it all in good spirits and still came away with a deserved Silver for her most excellent beam.
 Tionne Cumberbatch ( pictured) was tipped to do well but unexpected errors on the day put paid to that but her fantastic floor routine won bronze on the day.
Poppy Gibbs who entered the event under par was just one place behind Tionne and was listed as in the top ten floor routines of the event.
Emily Ashley who recovered from a fall on floor to take to top ten places with 8th on vault and 7th on balance beam putting her in 17th place.
Louisa Cuthbert was performing in her first Regional final and had a steady day on all 4 pieces of equipment but a good top 7 finish on beam gave her a top 15 finish overall .
 12 year old Sophie Fretwell was crowned Regional vault champion with Gold and was so unlucky on bars coming in 4th place but overall she was 9th in the finals so a great day at the office for Sophie who started her sport at Arabian’s baby gym 12 years ago. To see her up on the podium was rewarding after her normal Balance beam grace had a hiccup costing her any chance of a medal.
 Ellie Hewitt ( Pictured) made another remarkable milestone to the sports top order after 15 months in wheel chair, she took Silver medal on Vault and on Balance beam and this after a most spectacular fall that drew gasps from the audience but brought a smile of "Opps” from Ellie, she knows how to get the attention of the whole audience!. She remounted and went on to take Silver, ruing her missed Gold! Overall she took Bronze place and capped a marvelous return to the sport despite having a slight disadvantage after her operation to all other gymnasts.
Hannah Brookie Bond also returning from a bad injury that took her out the sport all summer. She responded in style being crowned the regional Bar Champion with gold medal and she also won three further silvers and came 2nd overall in the region.
Last but my no means least was the youngest of gymnast in Phobe Copestake from Hanslope Village, she finished a credible 17th in her first ever regional event she had an impressive 15th placing on bars and 16th on floor and but for one slip she would have been in the top 4 on balance beam as she was one of only 9, with a high difficulty value.
Head Coach Alan quoted
" To bring back 23 regional medals is quite something indeed, Our depth as a club was on show for everyone to see with many older girls still taking part in the sport and winning, but to have two that started in baby gym and now winning regional medals is really special. To be the only club with the youngest at 8 and the eldest at nearly 18 again shows the clubs home grown ability to produce talent. Added to this, Squad coaches Kirsty Lubbock aged 18 started aged 4 years old at the club and Annie Turney also started at the club aged 4 years old, so the depth of history is incredible.
It was a very long competition which ran overtime badly which to be fair can happen with most competitions but sadly I can't think of a genuine excuse for not a single gymnast being awarded a certificate of participation on a £30 entry, which is a shame when the region clearly gained over £6,000 from the children..."Welcome to British gymnastics?"
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