TALENTED gymnasts with Acrobay impressed on national service once more as they helped Scotland to a fifth Acrobatic Celtic Cup triumph in a row.

Fresh from having 27 members represent their country – and bring home medals – at the recent Acrobatic Inter Regional Competition in Southampton, 17 performers with the Rosyth-based club formed a significant part of the 58-strong Scottish team.

Gymnasts were chosen following a number of selection events and, included were the following six Acrobay partnerships: Olivia Keir, Erin Bailey & Caitlin Mitchell (Grade 4 Women’s Groups); Orla O’Neill, Amy Byrne & Isla Gould (Grade 5 Women’s Groups); Katie Halliwell, Deanna Canny-Armitt & Melissa Dewar (Age 11-16 Women’s Groups); Taylor Wilson & Amy Middleton (Age 12-18 Women’s Pairs); Kirsty Norman, Catriona Mitchell & Ailidh Forbes (Age 12-18 Women’s Groups); and Sacha Muir, Erin Henderson & Chloe Rowlands (Age 13-19 Women’s Groups).

The Scottish delegation, which also included eight coaches and a small army of parent supporters, travelled to Cardiff for the event on April 22 and the team competition featured some breath-taking displays of acrobatic gymnastics, the popular partner sport which emphasises the combined beauty and skills of dance and acrobatics.

At the close of competition, the highest scores from each grade were collated to find the winning team and a jubilant Scotland were presented with the Celtic Cup for the fifth successive year.

Acrobay head coach Suzanne Fraser said: “As always, the Celtic Cup was a hard-fought competition between some hugely talented gymnasts. The Scotland team were brilliant and it’s an amazing achievement to have retained the cup for the fifth year in a row.

“They did themselves proud and I’m delighted that so many Acrobay gymnasts were part of the winning team.”