Dawes and Letsche help Britain to European tumbling win (From Warrington Guardian)

Dawes and Letsche help Britain to European tumbling win

CALLANDS' Jenny Dawes and Warrington Gymnastics Club's Rachael Letsche have helped Great Britain clinch team gold at the Junior European Tumbling Championships in France.

Dawes, aged 15, and Letsche, aged 14, were both part of the four-strong squad that brought home gold medals from Metz after defeating the formidable eastern Europeans, who had never been beaten by a western European country in 17 previous championships.

The duo performed well as the team topped the list of qualifiers and, although Letsche was not selected for the final, Dawes continued her good form as Great Britain pushed Ukraine and defending champions Russia into second and third places.

Dawes, who is a former member of Warrington Gymnastics Club and now trains at Wakefield Gym Club, and Letsche, who was competing in her first major international competition and lives in Sutton Leach, were unlucky to miss out on the chance to compete for more medals in the individual event.

They finished fifth and seventh respectively in the qualifying competition but were not involved in the final because regulations allowed only two British tumblers to progress.

Dawes' mother Kym, who travelled to France to watch her daughter compete, said: "Jenny was slightly disappointed to miss out on the individual final because she would have had a chance of a medal.

"But it went well for all three of them in the team final and she was really pleased with how the whole week went."