FOURTEEN Acrobay gymnasts flew the flag for Scotland when they competed at the recent inter-regional competition in Southampton, earning silver and bronze medals and helping Scotland finish in third place.

A total of 112 acrobatic gymnastics partnerships from eight regions across the UK took part in the two-day event on 3rd and 4th May which, after a tense and exciting competition, saw Scotland take third place behind The South and Yorkshire.

The six partnerships from the Fife gymnastics club were selected to represent their country back in March following their medal-winning performances at the Scottish Championships.

The Scotland team included the following Acrobay partnerships: Nicole Paltiel & Niamh McGoldrick (Grade 2 women's pairs); Mica Fraser, Deanna Canny-Armitt & Eve Gillies (Grade 2 women's groups); Rebecca Smith & Amy Byrne and Eilidh Mitchell & Abby Paveling (Grade 3 women's pairs); Abbie Stewart, Stephanie Irwin & Emily Burns (Grade 3 women's groups) and Kirsty Norman and Alice Wyse (Grade 5 women's pairs).

All 14 Acrobay gymnasts gave outstanding performances and earner some high scores from the judges, some of them personal bests. These combined scores helped to put Scotland in third place overall and saw well-deserved silver medals for Kirsty Norman and Alice Wyse and bronze for Mica Fraser, Deanna Canny-Armitt and Eve Gillies.

Coaches Stacey Porterfield, Claire Bailey and Debbie Wilson said, "It was a fabulous weekend for Scotland and for Acrobay. Some of the clubs we were competing against are home to world-class gymnasts so it was a huge achievement for Scotland to finish in third place.

"We're thrilled that Acrobay contributed to this result; the girls all did their club and country proud."