As the athletes selected for Team Scotland for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi were announced in Stirling, the successful Scottish gymnastics squad were hard at work at a pre-Games training camp in Largs.

The sportscotland National Training Centre in Inverclyde hosted the squad of five women and two men, for an intensive five days of training and team building.

As well as early morning conditioning sessions in the gym to ensure the gymnasts are in peak physical condition, coaches Sandy Richardson (Women’s Artistic), Tan Jia En (Men’s Artistic)) and Marion Sands (Rhythmic) spent several hours a day helping to perfect their routines.
2006 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist on high bar, Adam Cox, has been sharing his Games experience with the other squad members, who are all Games rookies, except Emma White who also competed in Melbourne, coming sixth on vault at the age of just 14.

Adam has been training hard and has his sights firmly set on repeating his medal winning performance from Melbourne and said: “It’s been a strenuous week in terms of training, and the team have started to mentally prepare for what it’ll be like at Games time. For the whole week, I’ve either been in the gym or practicing my technique on the bars, I’ve not rested at all. I’m just completely focused on Delhi now and bringing home a medal. It would just mean so much to me to go out there and win a medal for Scotland, nothing can beat it.”
Team Leader, Aileen Mc Gillivary added: “The selection standards set by Scottish Gymnastics and Commonwealth Games Scotland have been tough and the gymnasts have risen to the challenge to achieve them. We now move into our final pre-Games preparation phase which is about improving on those standards already achieved to ensure that when we go into the arena in Delhi we can perform with distinction, and to our full potential as a team.
“The preparation camp has not only given the gymnasts the opportunity to train together and create the vital team dynamic; they have also benefitted from support through the sportscotland institute of sport, covering areas essential to their preparation for a multi-sport Games in Delhi. I am confident that this will be the best prepared Gymnastics team ever.”
The gymnastics competition will get underway on 4 October in the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.

TEAM
MEN
Adam Cox Men’s Artistic – Individual
Ryan McKee Men’s Artistic – Individual
WOMEN
Jordan Lipton Women’s Artistic – Individual & Team
Amy Regan Women’s Artistic – Individual & Team
Tori Simpson Women’s Artistic – Individual & Team
Emma White Women’s Artistic – Individual & Team
Vicky Clow Rhythmic – Individual
Team Leader – Aileen McGillivary
Coaches – Sandy Richardson (Women’s Artistic), Tan JiaEn (Men’s Artistic), Marion Sands (Rhythmic)
Photo courtesy of Tom Ross.