Three Tasmanian gymnasts were part of the Australian contingent at the world championships and world age group championships in Sofia.
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Jack Penny competed in the senior world championships and Matthew French and Flynn Caro contested the junior events at the world age championships.
Penny, who was the reserve gymnast for Team Australia in the men’s individual trampoline, qualified for the men’s synchronised trampoline final with teammate Blake Rutherford, of NSW, in an impressive seventh position.
State coach Ben Kelly said this was an unexpected result given Penny and Rutherford only took to the trampolines together for the first time upon arrival in the Bulgarian capital.
National coach Brett Austine was convinced the partnership was bound to be a success due to similar body types, bouncing height, skill repertoire and attitude.
With Penny a veteran on the international scene and Rutherford (20) making his debut on the world stage; the team finished among a strong field of established world championship finalists and Olympic medallists.
In the world age group competition, French and Caro competed in the 17-21 year men’s and 13-14 year men’s double-mini trampoline respectively.
French produced two strong routines in the qualification round of his competition to qualify for the final in seventh place.
Kelly said that French’s performances during 2017 have been commendable, with a significant increase in the difficulty of his routines, intentional with the desire to make the final at the world age championships.
French finished in sixth position and will now regroup for 2018 where he plans to increase his competitiveness on the individual trampoline.
Caro performed strongly in the qualification round but missed the final of his event, due to unstable landings during his routines.
Kelly admits there is great potential for Caro within trampoline gymnastics given he has only been involved for two years after transitioning from men’s gymnastics.
Another Tasmanian, Damien Axelsen, was selected to the senior team to contest the men’s double-mini event.
However, he was unfortunately sidelined two weeks before departure after an injury sustained during preparation for the event.
Although this was devastating for Axelsen, Kelly has confirmed that he is already rehabilitating.
He plans to make a comeback for the next trampoline world championships to be held in the Russian city of St Petersburg in November 2018.