Three Visions gymnasts off to African Champs
Three star gymnasts from Visions Gymnastics have made their way to Namibia to compete in this year's African Gymnastics Championships in a bid to qualify for the 2018 Youth Olympics.
The African Championships form part of the qualifying process for the upcoming Youth Olympics for boys in the U/16 and U/17 categories, as well as girls in the U/15 category.
Three Roodepoort-based gymnasts, Riccardo Colandrea and Ruan Lange, both aged 16, and Tamsyn Besit, aged 15, form part of the South African team headed by veteran gymnastics coach Derick Scholtz, who hails from Visions Gymnastics in Strubens Valley.
The three gymnasts have all represented South Africa before, but this will be the first African Championships for all three.
Their training leading up the championships has been intense, as they have put in just over 24 hours of training every week under their three coaches – Derick, Adele Heine, and Kevin Basson – in preparation for their biggest challenge yet.
They will be met with competition from all over the African continent, with Derick pointing out Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco as some of nations to look out for.
Derick has been a gymnastics coach for about 18 years and has trained various national men’s teams along the way. He is once again the men’s coach for the national youth team this year, and is rather proud of his three gymnasts.
“For the three of them to have put in such hard work and to even get to take part in the African Champs, is amazing,” he said.
Riccardo, Ruan and Tamsyn will qualify for the Youth Olympic Games taking place in Argentina this October, only if they place first in their respective disciplines.
The African Gymnastics Championships are currently under way in Swakopmund, Namibia, and will conclude on Sunday, 13 May.
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