Gymnastics: Scotland's high flyers

Columnist and Senior Features Writer

Sunday 14 October 2012

TWO of Scotland's rising stars will compete at the Northern European Gymnastics Champ-ionships in Glasgow next weekend.

Custom byline text:

Susan Swarbrick

Cara Kennedy and Douglas Ross, tipped as contenders for 2014 Commonwealth Games selection, will take on leading gymnasts from nine other nations, including Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden and Ireland at the new Emirates Arena.

Kennedy, 14, is the youngest member of the Scottish senior women's squad, but she has already shown poise and maturity beyond her years. A two-time Scottish junior champion, the Paisley-born youngster won a bronze medal on beam at last year's Northern European Gymnastics Championships.

She is hoping to build on that success this year and is using the competition to debut a series of new difficulty-packed routines. "I've only had three tumbling passes on floor the past couple of years, but this competition will be my first doing it with four. I'm looking forward to it," she said.Kennedy was only nine when Glasgow won the 2014 Commonwealth Games bid. Back then, she said, it seemed like a distant pipe dream, but in the past two years she has made it her firm goal to qualify."As I have got older I have realised: 'I want to do that'," she said. "It's coming around so fast. At the start of next year there will be the first trials for the Commonwealth Games. It doesn't feel like it's that far away now."Kennedy, who competes for City of Glasgow Gymnastics Club and was part of the Scottish team who won the 2011 Celtic Cup, is a solid all-rounder. "I like vault, beam and floor – I'm better at all of those. Bars is my weakest piece," she said.Watching the impressive Team GB performance at the 2012 Olympic Games in London has provided plenty to aspire to. "Hannah Whelan is someone I look up to," Kennedy said. "At Beijing in 2008 she was still young and very petite. Since then she has grown up and her body has changed, but she has still managed to keep her gymnastics at the same high level. That is inspiring to see."Douglas Ross, 18, is another up-and-coming Scottish name who is generating a buzz in gymnastics circles. At the 2011 Youth Commonwealth Games he took gold on the vault, following that up a week later at the under-18 British Gymnastics Championships with another gold on the same apparatus.Having rubbed shoulders with fellow Scots Daniel Keatings and Dan Purvis when he made his senior debut at the British Gymnastics Championships in July, he is looking forward to being in the thick of the action at the Emirates Arena next weekend. "I would like to achieve a good team result," he said. "I think we can produce a good score. For myself I would like to try to make the vault final. That would be the goal."At 6ft, Ross is markedly taller than your average gymnast, but it hasn't held him back. "I have to watch out for things like extra steps on the floor as smaller people do have a bit more room to fit everything in. To be honest, though, I haven't known anything else. I've been this height for a while now. It's what I know."Glasgow-born Ross has set his sights on representing Scotland in 2014."It has meant a lot of sacrifices along the way," he said. "My social life has probably seen the biggest impact, but I feel I have time for that afterwards. It's definitely worth it."The remainder of the Scottish men's team will comprise Ross Soutar, Liam Davie, Tom Barnes and Rob Keys, while Kirsty Campbell, Amy Regan, Carly Smith and Eilidh Craig will compete alongside Kennedy in the women's squad.

Contextual targeting label:

Hobbies and general interest

Commenting & Moderation

We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.

Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.

Gymnastics: Scotland's high flyers

Commenting & Moderation

MOST READ

SPONSORED LINKS

MOST COMMENTED