There are many ways to be involved in Chimo Gymnastics. In the recreational gymnastics program there are classes available for toddlers on up to adults with some terrific opportunities for teens with Parkour and High School gymnastics, all are available through the Comox Recreation Guide.
For those wanting to become a little more involved in exploring gymnastics skills there is the Pre Competitive program. Chimo Gymnastics’ competitive program is the next step in developing our gymnasts.
Competitive athletes are categorized into the age groups Pre-Argo, Argo, Tyro, Novice and Open and by numerical levels from Level 1, the first level in Provincial gymnastics, to Level 5, the highest level before reaching the National category.
There are approximately eight competitions a year for the competitive team and most have just completed their second of the season at the Carol Lenz Memorial Invitational, Feb. 28 to March 2 in Surrey.
During this first meet off of Vancouver Island this competitive season Chimo brought home three first place overall finishes, several more podium finishes on individual apparatus and some great personal accomplishments in challenging themselves by testing out new skills in competition.
Relative newcomer, Ariadne Greckus, challenged herself in the P2 Argo category. This age group and level is always a very large category and Ariadne gained valuable experience in competing at this level. Kira Magor’s second place balance beam routine placed her on top of the podium, winning gold in the P2 Novice category.
In Hannah Vallevand’s second competitive year she topped the podium in first place overall thanks to her winning vault and floor routine in the P2 Open category. The P3 Novice category is another very large and competitive group that saw Sophia Mossie achieve fourth place for her bar routine and finish in the top third of the group with a very respectable seventh place overall.
The P3 Open category saw three Chimo athletes competing together. Fresh off her BC Winter Games success, Kaylee Guignard scored first on vault, bars and beam and won her category. Isabella Pelletier joined her on the podium in third place with her beam and floor routines.
Thanks to hard work and great coaching, a number of gymnasts have moved up a level this year and are challenging themselves with new skills. Josee Jalbert achieved her goal of competing her new skills in her first Level 3 competition in the Lower Mainland. Lauren Carr won the floor category with her strong tumbling skills and was fourth on vault to finish sixth place overall in the P4 open group.
Sawyer Sturam stayed consistent across all four apparatus to solidly take fourth place overall in the P4 Open category. Kaylee Guignard, Josee Jalbert, Sophia Mossie and Isabella Pelletier received the second place team award for their session.
The gymnasts have continued to work hard since this meet to perfect new skills that they will be taking with them when they represent the Comox Valley at the BC Artistic Provincial Gymnastics Championships in Kamloops from March 14-16.
– Chimo Gymnastics
