DURBAN North Gymnastics Club members Liam Randall and Ryan Fredericks, were recently awarded their South African colours at a Region 5 competition against teams from Southern Africa. Liam, who competed in the junior section, steered his team to a convincing win over Namibia and finished third in the individual classification.

“I was happy with my performances but I think I could have done better. It was great to test ourselves out against international competition, it’s a good marker to see where you are competitively. I won gold on the floor which I was really happy about and winning against Namibia was something special,” the 12-year-old said.

The Hillview Secondary School pupil said his dream is to one day represent South Africa at the Olympics.

“My mom got me into the sport, she saw that I was flexible and I was often doing the splits or cartwheels. She drove past the gymnastics club and had me join, I took to it naturally. I love the feeling of freedom on the floor and being able to somersault, it’s an indescribable feeling,” he said.

His fellow club member and Redhill resident, Ryan, the current South African Level 8 champion, added the team gold and the individual gold to his ever-increasing collection, winning four apparatus medals along the way.

“We put in a lot of hours in this sport and we are always working on gaining strength. I was pleased with my results considering I had just recovered from a serious neck injury in November. I’ve worked really hard with the biokineticist and my coach, Arge, has been very patient and helpful in my recovery,” he said.