Warwick ‘Tramps’ bounce to victory at Bristol
On 16th November, 26 Warwick ‘Tramps’ headed to Bristol to compete in their first competition of the year in the Southern Universities Trampoline League. Seventeen other university clubs were in attendance too including Cambridge, Nottingham, Essex, and Bath. It was one of the biggest competitions of the year with over 300 students taking to the beds in the hope of presenting a faultless routine.
The club has been preparing for this competition since the start of term, when they recruited a whole bunch of new freshers to bounce with them. The Warwick team normally impress, and this competition was no different. In the awards ceremony, it seemed as if a Warwick student was constantly getting out of their seat to accept a medal.
Firstly, in the Intermediate Men’s category, Warwick’s Adam Brush was victorious scoring 46.0 points, which put him in first position from the outset. His performance never looked challenged, and he went on to win the gold. The fourth year German and Business student had never won before the Bristol competition, but had earned two silver medals in the past. He told us, “the weekend has been a balance of fun and serious competition. I am happy with my achievements; practice makes gold.”
It was one of the biggest competitions of the year with over 300 students taking to the beds in hope of presenting a faultless routine.
History fresher Polly Watson was Warwick’s only entry into the highest category, Uber Elite. At Uber level the competitor must perform two ten-move routines, which each have to include at least nine somersaults. The students were bouncing so high at this level that the stewards actually had to move the trampolines during their warm up in fear of them hitting the beams of the sports centre. However, this wasn’t too much of a scary prospect for Polly who has been practicing the sport for thirteen years and even performs at a national level; this year she rose up to 4th place in the British Championships. Polly said of her routine, “I didn’t know that I had done well. When I was mid-air I actually thought it was going badly.” Yet at Bristol she gained a bronze medal in her category.
All the medalists. From left to right: Ellena Abery, Darren George, Polly Watson, Charlie Miller, Matt Rigby, Adam Brush and Kay Heenan
Meanwhile, Warwick Tramps also took along their new novices to compete in their first competition. Among these were second year Chemistry student Bethany Dean, and Catherine Whittock, a Maths fresher. Catherine described the Novice category as “basically everything before somersaults,” adding that the competition “was nerve wracking but a lot of fun. I was so chuffed at just finishing it right, so the score was a bonus.” Each performed extremely well with Bethany even achieving 5th place out of the 80 newcomers.
In total, Warwick walked away with six medals. Among these were two gold medals, including Adam Brush’s and first year Darren George’s gold in the advanced group. Then, Polly Watson, third year Charlie Miller, and Maths student Matt Rigby all walked away with bronze medals in Uber, Inter-Advanced and Novice respectively. Moreover, Warwick’s Upper Team also achieved silver in the group points.
Warwick University did particularly well scooping up medals across five levels. Meanwhile, UWE and Bristol also achieved notable success. One bronze, two silver and two gold medals were awarded to UWE, whilst the home team, Bristol, won one gold medal and one silver.
The Tramps will next compete in January in our own sports centre with lots of Universities expected to attend the Warwick competition. When asked to describe this weekend though, Adam Brush responded with ‘exhilarating, excellent and enjoyable,’ whilst Catherine Whittock opted for ‘loads of fun.’
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Mike Brunell completes his Inter-Advanced routine for the judges
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