Young Wicklow gymnasts qualify for national finals
COUNTY Wicklow Community Games held their Gymnastics County Finals at the Arklow Gymnastics Centre with gymnasts representing Ashford/ Glenealy, Baltinglass, Roundwood and Arklow.
The audience enjoyed some great performances on the floor and the vault. The scoring was very tight in some of the age groups and all the gymnasts gave their best.
The under nine girls section was won by Caithlin Holt (Arklow), followed by Lily-Jo Rowlands (Arklow) in second place with Sophie Hurley (Arklow) and Emily Christopher (Arklow) in joint third place.
The under nine boys was won by Lincoln Breen (Arklow) with a great routine.
The under 11 girls have a floor routine and a vault to perform and it is the combined score that ranks the gymnasts. This section was very tight with the first two gymnasts tied on the same combined, floor and vault score. The winner was Orlaith Holt (Arklow), based on the floor score. In second place was Grace O’Connor (Arklow), followed by Layla Cahill (Arklow) and Faye Kenny (Arklow).
The under 11 boys was won by Darragh Furlong (Arklow). Reuben Factor (Arklow) was a close second place.
The under 13 girls also perform a floor routine and a vault and only 0.3 marks separated the first four gymnasts. The winner was Emily Hayes (Arklow). Second place went to Zara Fennell (Arklow), while 0.1 back in third was Clodagh Shelton (Arklow) and in fourth place was Emily Quinn (Baltinglass).
The under 13 boys was won by Jack Burke (Arklow).
Under 15 girls winner was Jordan O’Brien (Arklow), followed by Ava Godkin (Arklow) in second place, with Leah Farrell (Roundwood) in third place.
Special thanks have been extended to Jessica Davies from Dublin for judging and to everyone who helped on the day. Thanks have also been sent to the County PRO, Phyliss Farrell, who attended.
The gold medal winners will represent County Wicklow at the National Finals at the Aldi Community Games Festival on May 25 to 27 in the University of Limerick. Fianna Fáil Deputy Stephen Donnelly will host an awareness event for Wicklow residents on data protection in the Martello next Tuesday, April 10 at 8 p.m.
‘Is your data safe?’ will focus on upcoming changes to the data protection regulations and the responsibilities that Irish businesses will have with the upcoming rules changes. Fianna Fáil activist James Doyle will provide a briefing on the changes for businesses and residents.
‘There is obviously a huge level of concern about personal data and people’s privacy rights, in particular online,’ said Deputy Donnelly. ‘Recent weeks have seen a spotlight put on the power that tech giants such as Facebook have in our lives. Personal information has now become a valuable commodity. Revelations about the work of Cambridge Analytical show just how powerful this information can be.
‘People and businesses need to be aware that the law on data protection is about to change.’