Day 1, Thursday 23^rd October 2008
Around 13:00 eight very excited gymnasts gathered at the Bell household ready to depart for Bristol airport. The girls set off in David Barrington’s car whilst Adrian Hole took the boys along with Scott. About an hour later we arrived at Bristol and checked in. We had a small wait before we were finally able to board the plane, but at 17:35 we took off. This was a very exciting experience for first time fliers Nicky, Sarah and Nick Hole. We landed safely in Germany an hour later where we got a train followed by taxi to the hotel. We arrived at 22:00 exhausted and ready for bed after some food.

Day 2, Friday 24^th
At 7:30 we were all woken up so we could have breakfast, shower and then get a bus to the sports centre where we had a couple of hours to practice and go through our routines. It gave us the chance to do some last minute perfecting and check out the competition! We went back to the hotel, ate lunch then got ready to go back to the sports centre. Leotards, hair stuff, make up and leotard glue all up together, we set off back to the sports hall. The nerves really began to kick in. Once there we warmed up then did our hair and make up, then it was time for the march-on and to get the competition started. Sarah and I were now very nervous, as we were first on out of the whole competition. After the march-on, we had our orientation then before we new it we were called onto the floor by the judges. The pairs were doing balance first whilst the groups did dynamic first. We came off the floor mostly pleased, although we had a time penalty for not holding straddle slide down to splits long enough and I didn’t complete my tuck back to knee properly otherwise the routine went well and we gained a score of 23.532. Next to compete were Nicky and Maddie; their routine went well with no penalties. They got a score of 24.632. Then the men’s four (James, Nick, Nick and Craig) were on. The routine was good apart from one dropped move. Their score was 23.833. Finally James and Craig competed gaining a score of 23.766. After a break for food, Sarah and I were back on to do our dynamic routine. It went better than balance as we didn’t get any penalties, gaining a score of 25.633 and an overall score of 49.165. This put us in 11^th place. Next Nicky and Maddie completed a good tempo routine scoring 24.033 with an overall score of 48.665 putting them in 12^th place. The men’s four then performed an excellent balance routine with a score of 26.199 and an overall score of 50.032. They came in 1^st place. Last of all James and Craig performed again a good dynamic routine, which with a score of 24.633 was better than balance. They gained an overall score of 48.399 and a gold medal. With the competing done, we headed back to the hotel where we played card games and talked until we fell asleep!

Day 3, Saturday 25^th
With no one competing we had a relaxing day watching the junior and senior competitors. We were especially wowed by a men’s four and mixed pair, who put so much feeling and emotion into their routines, inspiring us to improve our performance.

Day 4, Sunday 26^th
Eight very exhausted gymnasts and one just as exhausted coach sadly packed their bags and headed for the airport ready to fly back home. The whole experience was amazing and great fun. A big thanks to Scott for taking us and a massive well done to those who competed.