Sky’s the limit for acrobatic champs

By Kath Gannaway
HEALESVILLE acrobatic pair, Esther Rijk and Joanne Curry, has returned from the Australian Acrobatics Championships with a national title.
The girls who train and coach with the Acrobatics Department of Healesville Gymnastics Centre won the Level 4 Pairs at the championships held at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra on 5 December.
The girls train under HGC Acrobatics head coach Samantha Whitehead and assistant coach Jodi Mathieson.
The club was very well represented with five girls competing as part of the Victorian team and with Ms Whitehead chosen to coach the team.
Morgan Fisher, Laila Halim and Stephanie Kelly competed in the level 5 trios and gave a personal best performance.
Esther, 15, and Joanne, 13, said their love of the sport, and their friendship, have given them the edge in a sport which is highly competitive.
“We’ve been working together for six years now and we really enjoy what we do,” Esther said.
Joanne admitted to being a bit nervous as they went into the competition, but said they knew they had done well in their balance routine.
“We didn’t know how we had done in the dynamic competition, but we did well in that as well,” she said.
Ms Whitehead who started with the club as a child and did gymnastics coaching before moving seven years ago to acrobatics, said it was a great result for the girls and for the club.
“We’re all thrilled,” she said. “We achieved more than we ever thought we would. Coming from our tiny little gym it’s a lot harder for our members with the limited facilities at the club.”
Esther and Joanne will be moving up the ladder – by two rungs – next year and have their eyes very firmly focused on competing again against the best in Australia in Level 6.
The Healesville Gymnastics Centre is owned by Dru and Richard Troon with clubs in Healesville, Yarra Junction and Emerald.