Not only did the Guernsey Tumbling Centre send a record-sized squad of five competitors, but they brought home the island’s first English golds, with Elijah Echebima setting the tone on the Saturday before Maison Le Page achieved one at FIG (elite) level the next day.
‘It’s a massive achievement,’ head coach Bobby Montague said.
‘The standard of these “comps” is so high, but they’re managing to not only come first, but come first by quite some way.
‘They were both first off their first tumble and first to the end.’
Echebima’s success came in the Club Six Boys (11-12) group, where he maintained his lead throughout.
Debutantes Chloe Torode and Isabella Webb-Stanley both also went on the Saturday.
Torode put out a really clean first two runs before putting out a brand-new third with a much higher difficulty, leading her to a finish ninth and mid-pack in the Club Six Girls (13-14) group.
Webb-Stanley went in the Regional One Girls (13+) and did not have her best first two runs but, similarly to her ally, went big on the third with some really big upgrades.
It did not quite pay off, as she settled for 19th, but it proved a good learning experience for the first-timer.
Sunday marked the turn of the island’s two FIG boys.
Le Page had only a small category, albeit a high-quality one, in the 10-year-olds and led that from the start.
He posted a winning score of 18.70, a huge 1.20 clear of Durham’s Rory Hockborn in second.
Robbie Hill-Tout, who had made history as Guernsey’s first English medallist last year, finished fourth in the 12-13 category.
But even this was no mean feat given that he has just stepped up to this age group and so faces older opposition.
‘Robbie did really well,’ Montague said.
‘The strategy with him is a little different. He’s now in the first year of a two-year age category, so we’re just working on increasing difficulty and staying competitive this year and then we’ll look at aiming specifically for medals and placings next year.’
The coach also cannot overstate how much tumbling has flourished in a relatively short space of time.
A few years ago, simply qualifying for this level was a massive step, and 2025 had made history for having four gymnasts and one medallist.
‘It’s a really great sign that what we’re doing is working.
‘We have taken the approach that we’re building a sport and a culture in the island from the ground up.
‘There’s a lot of years that have gone into getting us here. As each year goes on, it’s more affirming – five kids and two English
