AS a former international calibre gymnast, Chris Martin knows a good front tuck, dismount or Yurchenko loop when he sees one.
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Needless to say, he’s expecting plenty over the next four days.
The 2015 Gymnastics NSW Country Championships begin on Thursday at Sir Neville Howse Stadium in Orange, with a whopping 900 competitors - accompanied by 200 coaching staff and 200 officials and judges, no less - set to tumble their way to gymnastics glory by the end of the weekend.
Gymnastics NSW events manager, Martin says this year’s event is indicative of the massive growth the sport is embracing in country NSW.
“We’re getting more and more country clubs and they’re becoming more diverse with the programs they’re offering,” Martin said on Wednesday during the set-up for the championships, which, all going to plan, wound up at around 8pm last night.
“To be honest, we have been known to finish [set-up] after midnight, but the crew is great at the moment.
“There’s lots of local support, and this is certainly an area that’s growing.
“With 900 different competitors competing here, it shows the growth. We were here two years ago, and it was under 700.”
Competition on Thursday will involve acrobatic and rhythmic gymnastics, with measuring beginning at 8am.
A warm-up and march-on will precede the start of competition, at 9am.
The afternoon will feature the rhythmic foundation one and two categories and the AGG and categories one through to four.
“It’s going to be fantastic,” Martin said, encouraging people to attend any of the four days of competition.
“They’ll see a range of all gym sports we have on offer, six different from participation levels through to international and the pinnacle of the sport competitors.
“You’ll get to see some traditional gymnastics you get to see at the Olympics and the world championships and then some of the other diverse, team gym participation based events that are really about getting people involved.
“It’ll be exciting and a great atmosphere.”
Martin, who has contested the elite level of gymnastics, said he’s tempted to come out of retirement for such events like the country championships, but enjoyed the management side of the sport too much.
“It’s great to be part of this side of things as well,” he added.
“It’s really well supported.”
