Local gymnast makes it back-to-back championships for Kawartha Gymnastics
Nguyenho won Level 6 all-around title at Ontario level 6-10 championships
Kawartha Gymnastics has a firm hold on Gymnastics Ontario’s Level 6 all-around individual title.
Zoe Nguyenho made it back-toback championships for Kawartha Gymnastics when she claimed the Level 6 all-around title at the Ontario Level 6-10 Gymnastics Championships April 13-14 in Ottawa.
It followed on the heels of her club mate, Chloe Lau, winning the same title in 2023.
Nguyenho, 11, dominated her class winning the gold medal on bars, beam and vault, while placing sixth on the floor exercise to claim the all-around gold. Lau, 14, moved up to Level 7 this year and placed fourth overall while winning a gold medal on beam.
Claire Stuart-Lewis, 17, added a sixth gold medal for Kawartha Gymnastics, tying Lau for first place on the Level 7 beam.
Nguyenho, a Grade 6 pupil at Westmount Public School, placed third overall last year at Level 5 and made big strides despite moving up a level.
“After seeing my first score (on bars) it got my hopes up,” Nguyenho said. “Then, at my second event, I got my highest score ever (on beam). For floor, I got a pretty high score and on the last event, which was vault, I got a good score, too.”
It wasn’t until they handed out the awards she knew for sure she had won the all-around.
“I was really happy and wanted to tell everybody,” she said.
She trains 16 hours a week and it felt like all the hard work paid off. She wouldn’t put in those types of hours unless she really enjoyed it.
“I like training with all my friends.
It makes it even more fun and all the coaches are really nice,” she said.
“Zoe did extremely well this year,” said Dezirae Glover, one of Kawartha Gymnastics’ competitive coaches. “She was Level 5 last year, which is a compulsory program, just structured a little bit different. Zoe is a very talented athlete. She’s hard-working and determined and always at practice on time. She really tries hard to make those corrections her coaches are giving her to better herself as an athlete. She’s very similar to Chloe in that they are both very hard-working and determined to do their best.”
Lau, a Grade 9 student at Kenner Collegiate, surprised herself last year when she won the provincial title because she had taken the previous two years off. It helped her this year to face the challenge of moving up a level.
“I think it made me more confident in my skills,” she said. “I was pretty excited (to win the gold on beam). I didn’t really think I would win another medal, but I was really happy. Everybody seemed a lot better this year than they did last year.”
Beam has always been her best event.
“I find it easier than other ones,” said Lau. “It just works for me.”
“Chloe is a very talented and determined athlete,” said Glover. “She is constantly here on time and trains her hardest every single practice. Chloe also excels in those high-pressure situations. She does a really good job at taking corrections, especially at competitions when it really matters. I’ve been coaching Chloe for a while now and never had any issues with her. She’s an amazing gymnast.”
Stuart-Lewis, a Grade 12 student at Adam Scott Collegiate, is one of the club’s oldest competitive athletes.
“Claire is an amazing role model, especially for our younger athletes,” said Glover. “She always comes in with a positive attitude and is very hard-working as well and is really encouraging for our younger athletes, which is nice to see.”
It was one of the club’s strongest showings at provincials.
“I don’t think we’ve ever got that many gold medals at provincials,” said Glover.