BASINGSTOKE Gymnastic Club’s boys’ artistic squad picked up plenty of medals at the Southern Region Championships hosted by Southampton Dynamo School of Gymnastics.

Medal winners included Rowan Deakin, Tobias Splain, Josh Kershaw, Peter Robinson, Iain Foster and Henry Mantel.

Men’s artistic head coach Alberto Cacace was delighted with the results achieved by the squad and in particular the new generation of young gymnasts that had been selected to be part of the Basingstoke team in preparation for their first regional event.

Cacace said: “It was great to see the team work so well following the hard work and dedication of up to 16 hours’ training per week during the year.

“Thanks should also go to coaches Peter Syckelmoore and Fiona Creelie for their efforts as well as the new judging team representing Basingstoke – David Roy-Wood, Elaine Robinson and Rob Kershaw.”

Deakin was crowned Southern Region champion in the under-eight age group after compiling an excellent score of 67.85, while Splain finished in fifth with 61.95.

In the individual apparatus the pair collected a number of medals as Deakin finished third on floor (11.90) and high bar (10.80) and won the pommel horse with 9.30, just ahead of clubmate Splain, who took silver with 8.90.

On rings, Deakin (11.70) was second, while on the vault both Deakin and Splain scored 12.05 individually after executing – for the first time – a handspring vault, which placed them both first.

Deakin took silver on the parallel bars and Splain the bronze.

Elsewhere, also in the under-eight competition, Toby Woods, Oliver Whiles and Benjamin Nelson did well competing in their first ever regional championship as they finished 10th, 11th and 16th respectively.

In the under-10 section, Kershaw was 18th overall with a score of 63.20, but the high spot of his day was winning pommel horse silver with a score of 12.30.

Three other Basingstoke gymnasts who took part in this age group were Owen Hastings (26th), Nicholas McKay (29th) and Oliver Buckley (32nd).

The under-12 age group was represented by Alex Stanley, Robinson and Foster. They also performed well, finishing sixth, seventh and eighth respectively.

On their way to these placings, Robinson won silver on the pommel horse with a score of 12.00 and Foster finished third in the vault with a score of 12.85.

The final event of the day saw Mantel win gold in the under-18 age group with a total score of 59.10.

Boys aged five and over who are interested in gymnastics are welcome to join the Basingstoke Gymnastics Club, which is based at the Active Life Centre.

For more information visit basingstokegym.co.uk, contact them on 01256 352858 or email info@basingstokegym.co.uk