USSA Gymnastics Championships

On 2-6 July, the USSA Gymnastics Games were held in Phillipi at the High Performance Centre which was well attended by gymnasts from Maties, Pukke, Tuks, Wits and the hosts, UCT.  The games consisted of 5 Disciplines, including a team event. Each event was judged by South African Gymnastics Federation (SAGF) judges and the results can be compared nationally.

The tournament was a huge success with great individual and team results across all varsities. The week then ended with each varsity performing an amazing team dance routine which tried to incorporate all their techniques into one routine (much like the ‘Bring it on’ franchise).  The final day also included a prize giving and dinner at the UCT Sports Pub, where an entertaining evening brought everyone even closer.

Day 1 kicked-off with Trampoline and Tumbling. This showcased a discipline of acrobatic flips completed on one apparatus in series, where tumbling/mini trampoline and trampoline gymnasts shine. This year saw Pukke (NWU) dominating with event specialists such as Viann Nel, who is nationally ranked on Trampoline. UCT gymnast Moritz Wolf, described day 1 as “a fun start to the games but by the second day it becomes heavily contested”.

Despite the cold chill inside the High Performance Centre, Day 2 presented some of the best Artistic gymnastics at this level. Amongst the UCT team, Ashleigh Blignaut who competed in nationals last year for Western Province, executed a neat routine in her floor section.

Jonathan De Bruijn (UCT), a  talented and very promising level 2 gymnast, put in a terrific performance all-round and was awarded 1st place for his performance in the Men’s artistic gymnastics (MAG). The MAG award consists of the overall winner of 6 apparatus: floor exercise; pommel; horse rings; vault; parallel bars and horizontal bar. Jonathan’s coach, Jarred de Beer, describes him as a “rare a talent and an all-rounder in all apparatus”.

However, it was former South African National gymnasts Viani Janse van Vuuren (Tuks) and Richard Dobson (Wits) who dominated the day, posting averages you can hope for on an Olympic level. Richard will be hoping to qualify for World Artistic Championships.

The last few days presented some stiff competition and UCT being amongst the smallest team (only 8 gymnasts) were unfortunately dominated by the other Universities.

The group routine competition is the most entertaining part of the games. The two largest teams, Pukke and Maties, themed their routines as Thriller and Superheroes vs. Villains respectively.  In this event, Pukke narrowly beat Maties to reclaim their title. The overall team rankings from the tournament are displayed in the table below.

Overall, the tournament was a great success despite the cold temperatures and the heavy rain over the weekend. The results from the tournament were exceptionally good with the Chairperson of USSA, Joel Manual, describing them as “results of national rankings”.

Awards:

Victor Lodorum: Marlou Swanepoel

Victrix Lodorum: Viani Janse van Vuuren