FRANK Baines has already battled more adversity than most in his sporting career but the 19-year-old knows that the biggest fight is yet to come.
As the 2015 British Gymnastics Championships get under way in Liverpool tomorrow, Baines will be looking to shine among a tough field that includes Daniel Purvis, Daniel Keatings and Max Whitlock, all three gold medallists at Glasgow 2014.
Olympic silver medallist Louis Smith is another name in contention alongside Kristian Thomas and Courtney Tulloch, who both competed at the World Gymnastics Championships last October.
European high bar silver medallist Sam Oldham, meanwhile, is on the comeback trail following ankle ligament reconstruction surgery in August.
At stake is a place in the British team for the European Championships in Montpellier, France, in just over a fortnight. The competition marks a crucial first step on the road to the World Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow this autumn, a key qualifier for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
"That's the ultimate aim," says Baines. "Everyone is pushing each other on and that makes us all work harder. There is a lot of strong competition. Everyone is focused on getting their best performances in and being as consistent as possible."
Before then, the Scot will be hoping to make his senior debut at European level. He was the 2012 European junior all-around champion before a career-threatening fall in training a year later temporarily curtailed his ambitions as he made the step up to the senior ranks.
Baines has since fought back from four fractured vertebrae in his back and neck. The Liverpool-born gymnast, who has a Scottish father and an English mother, was part of Scotland's silver medal-winning men's team at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
He came within heartbreaking reach of individual glory, finishing fourth on parallel bars and high bar by the slimmest of margins. Baines was included in the British team for the World Gymnastics Championships in Nanning, China, last October but as the alternate didn't get to compete.
The teenager, who splits his time between Southport YMCA and British Gymnastics HQ in Lilleshall, names the parallel bars and floor as his strongest apparatus and is confident that with clean routines he could gain scores upwards of 15.000 for both.
"The aim for the British is to qualify for the European Championships, not necessarily for the all-around but for a few individual pieces," he says. "The all-around is a big task to handle so for the time being I would be happy just to do a few pieces and contribute to the team as opposed to doing all six [apparatus]."
He is a young man who lives by the motto that if it was easy, everyone would be doing it. A series of videos on his Instagram feed showcase the new skills that Baines has been trying out in training, including some eye-wateringly impressive release and catch moves on high bar.
He insists that his approach to that apparatus hasn't changed in the aftermath of the accident which saw Baines miscalculate a dismount from the bar and land on his head, fracturing the vertebrae in his neck and back in August 2013.
"I struggled with release and catches for a while but it wasn't anything to do with fear," he says. "It was just my actions were off a bit. I've got the hang of it now."
Baines took all-around silver behind Purvis at the 2015 Scottish National Gymnastics Championships in Perth last month as well as gold on rings, silver on pommel horse and high bar, and bronze on parallel bars.
He was joined in action by 15-year-old brother, Alfie, who was competing as a guest. Unlike his older sibling, Alfie hasn't yet publicly pledged his allegiance to either Scotland or England. "He's still undecided at the moment," says Baines, with diplomatic tact.
While performances at the European Championships next month will go towards deciding the team for Glasgow there is likely to be another qualification event closer to October - in all probability the London Open at the end of September - to determine who makes the final cut.
No matter how things pan out, there is little doubting the tenacity of Baines. "I always work hard even if things aren't going my way," he says. "I like to learn from my mistakes and take the ups with the downs."
The 2015 World Gymnastics Championships will take place at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow from October 23 until November 1. For tickets, visit 2015worldgymnastics.com
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