Andover Gymnastics Club sports acrobats and tumblers competed recently in the annual Summer Balance competition in Milton Keynes.

In the Sports Acrobatics, Andover was represented by five Level 1 pairs. Sian Wilkinson and Annie Smith gave a strong performance to finish fifth and Charlotte Tyler and Lucy Jones, in their first competition as a women's pair, performed their new routine superbly and were rewarded with a silver medal. The youngest pair, France Lawrence and Emily Tyler's slightly unstable moves resulted in a disappointing 17th but another new pairing of Alice Langdown and Millie McGaughey claimed sixth. Kathleen Parkinson-Hill and Elizabeth Vinten were last to perform produced a good routine but two short holds dropped them to 14th place.

In the Level 3 Women's group, Hannah Jones, Amy Jones and Hollie West were rewarded with a well earned gold medal for their superb routine - an additional birthday present for Hollie.

Andover Tumblers were also competing at this event in regional, national and international levels.

At Regional 2 Level 7, Andover gymnasts were competing tumbling for the very first time. Hannah Fitzgerald, Abigail Buxton, Jade Lloyd, Lauren Tyler and Jess Bell from the development tumbling squad were performing under the watchful eye of their coach John Murray who had swapped his coaching hat for a judging one for the day. They were joined by Emily Tyler and Annie Smith from the main acrobatic squad. All coped with the competition pressure and performed their first two runs well, with three gymnasts reaching the final. After performing their final runs Hannah finished fifth, Abi fourth and Annie claimed the gold medal.

In the National 1 U12 tumbling Frances Lawrence produced a solid second run to see her through to the final, eventually finishing seventh. Lucy Jones and Charlotte Tyler competed in the 12-14 age group and after producing good runs throughout Charlotte finished fifth and Lucy won silver.

National 2 tumblers Charlotte Kestle (12-14 age group) and Ellie Van der Plank (15+) produced two gold medals.

The junior International tumblers were also in action. Jenna Barrett and Kaylum Batchelor competed in the 8-10 age group, with Jenna claiming gold and Kaylum silver. Eden Tulk, Jamie Stanley and Aiden Edwards were in the 11-12 group with Eden fifth and Aiden fourth and with three high quality runs from Jamie he captured the gold medal