Wexford gymnastics duo claim silver in world event
A gymnastic duo from Wexford have fought off competitors from around the world to claim silver medals at the Maia International Acro Cup in Portugal.
Kirstin Brennan (18) from Whiterock Hill and Lily Stewart (11) from Rosslare finished second in the Junior Women’s Pair competition, an event notorious for its difficulty.
Both members of the Wexford Gymnastics Club, the girls were part of an eight-strong team along with Aoife Power. Alice Molloy Nolan. Aoife Gough. Willow Hayes. Becky Duggan and Ella Scanlon.
Now safely home and having followed all the necessary guidelines upon their return, Kirstin, Lily and their coach Aisling Swords discussed their experience at the tournament.
‘Their category is one of the most difficult because of the level and the ages of the partnerships,’ explained Aisling, ‘There’s a base gymnast and a top gymnast and there’s age limits on both, Lily was one of the youngest in her field.’
And although the girls train religiously, attending training four, sometimes five days a week, for four hours at a time, Aisling said they never expected to medal at such a prestigious competition.
‘We were all crying, shaking from head to toe. it was so unexpected. They deserve it because they work so hard, but you don’t go away to a big competition ever thinking you’d end up on the podium. The competition was extremely high.’
Also in attendance were both girl’s parents, and Lily’s mother admitted she was still hoarse from screaming and shouting support for her daughter.
‘it’s emotional seeing her perform, definitely, but it’s so nice to see the work pay off, I’m very proud.’ she said.
This was echoed by Kirstin’s mother
Michelle. ‘It’s fantastic, and such an achievement for them,’ she added.
But what of the girls themselves, how did they react and, more to the point, do they get on?
‘We get on well,’ said Kirstin of their ‘big sister little sister’ relationship. ‘I wasn’t expecting us to medal, I just wanted to go out and do a clean routine.
It was a shock, I was delighted.’
With the nation now on lockdown and the Gymnastics Club in Coolcotts closed for the forseeable future, Aisling is determined to ensure her charges stay in prime condition.
She has implemented a training programme for them to carry out from home and is sending out daily reminders via the club’s Facebook page. However, it’s a different social media site which is taking up most of Kirstin and Lily’s time at the moment.
‘They’ve been spotted on Instagram pages, and has some famous names in gymanstics, world champions from previous years, asking can they follow them,’ said Aisling.