Strong Northland team to compete in Gymnastics National Championships this week

The team of gymnasts selected to represent Northland at the New Zealand National Gymnastics competition this week. Photo / Tania Whyte

Northland has a strong team competing at the NZ Gymnastics National Championships in Auckland this week.

Altogether, 10 artistic gymnasts, nine tumblers and 10 trampoline athletes from two Northland clubs - Fantastic Gymnastics and the Whangārei Academy of Gymnastics - have qualified and been selected to compete in the championships, being held at Trusts Arena from tomorrow to Saturday.

The gymnasts range in age from 9 to 18 and are all very excited to have a national championship to compete at in 2021, Vicki Macdonald, manager at Whangārei Academy of Gymnastics, said.

Northland's Brendan Marais getting in some practice before he competes in the NZ Gymnastics National Championships.

She said the competition season was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic last year and it had taken a while for the athletes to get into competition mode, but they were now ready to go.

Macdonald said they are hoping for some success at the champs, with reigning Over 18 NZ champion Steph Crocker hoping to retain her trampoline title and Ryan Townsend - who represented NZ Gymnastics in Texas before the Covid shutdown - and Brendan Marais all contenders.

Northland team member Ryan Townsend getting in some practice on the still rings ahead of this week's NZ Gymnastics National Championships in Auckland.

''The stars of the show will be our senior men. Northland has four senior men competing over the week. This is the largest senior men's team Northland has ever had. The skill level these men have achieved is breathtaking,'' she said.

''We've got a good team and they all did extremely well to qualify, after no competitions last year.''

Reigning Over 18 NZ champion Steph Crocker on the trampoline ahead of this week's NZ Gymnastics National Championships in Auckland.

Regardless of winning medals, the championships will be a good test for the athletes, who will gain a lot of experience.