Buster and Ashley battle it out in national schools finals
They can usually be found working together as an acrobatic partnership, but last weekend Buster Tutcher and Ashley Wallis were head-to-head, competing against each other for honours in the national schools tumbling finals.

Both had made it through to the finals as representatives of the south west region, after taking the top two places in the south west schools competition.  And it was Ashley who came out on ahead on this occasion, finishing in the bronze medal position, while Buster finished in an excellent sixth position.

High performance coach Helen Nayler said: "Both of the lads did excellently, but it was certainly Ashley's day, and he made very few mistakes in his execution.  Buster did superbly too, but just fell short of the medals."

The boys normally practice their tumbling on a sprung tumble track at Honiton Gym Club, but in the schools competitions, the tumbles are performed on standard gymnastics mats.  Despite the tougher conditions, the two boys performed dynamic jumps, backflips, forward somersaults and backward somersaults with poise and skill.

Buster and Ashley's national finals took place at Fenton Manor in Stoke on Trent - the same venue where they together won a bronze medal in the 11-16 men's pair event at the British Championships.

Buster and Ashley train together four times per week at Honiton Gym Club, where they perform balance and dynamic elements together, as well as learning individual gymnastic elements.

Any children, from three-years-old upwards, can wish to learn gymnastics at Honiton Gym Club.  Anyone wishing to find out more should visit www.honitongymclub.org, or contact Helen Nayler on 07825 181693, hnayler@hotmail.com.