Maffra athletes Chelsea and Heidi Ikin have been selected for the Victorian Gymnastics Team.
The sisters will represent Victoria in tumbling at the Australian Gymnastics Championships on the Gold Coast next month.
While 11-year-old Heidi makes her debut as part of the Victorian Gymnastics Team, 13-year-old Chelsea is set to representing the state for a third time.
Chelsea, a Year 8 student at Gippsland Grammar, and Heidi, a Grade 6 student at Maffra Primary School, earned their spots on the Victorian Gymnastics Team recently, with Chelsea taking silver in National Level 6 Tumbling and Heidi taking silver in National Level 5 Tumbling at the Victorian Gymnastics Championships in Geelong.
The Victorian Gymnastics Championships at Geelong Arena, from March 31 to April 2, attracted the most talented gymnasts from across the state, with just under 500 gymnasts from 60 Victorian gymnastics clubs flocking to the region and contesting their titles.
The event featured a feast of gymnastics action over three days of competition, including Women’s Artistic Gymnastics, Men’s Artistic Gymnastics, Trampoline Gymnastics, and Special Olympics with 2022 WAG Commonwealth Games medallists Emily Whitehead, Kate McDonald and Romi Brown, 36th FIG Trampoline Gymnastics World Championship athlete, Alex Luyckx, and Australia’s Got Talent finalists, Team Adrenaline included in the line-up of talent.
“The Victorian Championships were a great place to catch up with everyone competing,” Chelsea said.
“It was a very exciting and fun environment. Although that performance was not my best, I am still very happy with second in Victoria.”
Chelsea is nervous but excited about competing in the Australian Gymnastics Championships.
“This will be my third Australian Gymnastics Championships, and it’s a great experience to compete at this event,” she said.
“I’m more prepared than in previous years, so I’m really looking forward to competing this year. Going to nationals is such a great opportunity to see all the amazing talent in tumbling and other the other gym sports.”
For first-timer Heidi, the Victorian Championships were a nerve-racking ordeal, but the young tumbler is looking forward to the nationals.
“It certainly wasn’t my best tumbling performance, but it was great to still place second,” she said.
“I’m nervous and excited [for the Australian Gymnastics Championships], but I’m especially excited for the experiences that competing at a national championship brings.”
The Ikin sisters have been training at BTYC Gymnastics Club in Donvale every week for little more than a year, joining the Melbourne-based program in early 2022, facilitated by internationally accredited coach Jordan Mitilineos-Janicke.
“I started gymnastics when I was six-years-old and worked my way through the competition levels,” Chelsea said.
“Some older girls that I looked up to at the time did tumbling, so it was something I wanted to do too.”
Following her older sister, Heidi decided to join gymnastics.
“I started Women’s Artistic Gymnastics (WAG) when I was five and later decided that I also wanted to do tumbling,” she said.
“I love both the social and competitive side of tumbling, but overall, [my favourite thing about gymnastics/tumbling] would have to be accomplishing a goal I’ve been working towards for a long time.”
For Chelsea, it’s the memories that fuel her love and passion for all things gymnastics.
“Besides building strength, flexibility, and many more great skills, gymnastics has created so many great memories for me,” she said.
The BTYC tumbling program has been highly successful, with all the athletes vying for a position in this year’s Victorian Gymnastics Team successfully securing a place; Dakota Markulja, Heidi Ikin, Olivia Mitchell, Chelsea Ikin, Chloe Kahaduwa-Pooddwage, Henry Noble, Edith Penman, and Skylar Kah.
Tess O’Toole and Gracie Szarek from Maffra Gymnastics were also named as part of the Victorian Gymnastics Team in tumbling.
Chelsea, who trains in a senior tumbling squad, and Heidi, who trains in the high-performance program, aim to improve and further develop their skills to compete at international levels in the future.
The Ikin sisters will continue their training at BTYC in preparation for the upcoming Australian Gymnastics Championships, and continue in the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics program at Maffra Gymnastics, which they have been a part of for many years.
