South African vaulters impress in Africa Cup in Kyalami
Young vaulters from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mauritius put their vaulting skills out to various judges in the recently concluded Africa Cup Vaulting Cup.
The FEI (International Federation for Equestrian Sports) Africa Cup Vaulting Cup took place recently with a number of Gauteng Vaulting athletes showing off their skills at the Equidome in Kyalami.
Close to 70 athletes representing South Africa, Mauritius and Zimbabwe trained and competed over five days in a jam-packed event. Three days were used for coaching clinics with the remaining two days for competition among the participants.
Tamryn Gonzaga of the Vaulting Council of Gauteng said, “These clinics not only provided an opportunity for vaulters to learn from world-class coaches but also up-skill local judges, lungers, officials and parents through both the active and theoretical sessions.
“The sport has thankfully seen an increase in numbers in the last few years, this despite Covid, and these clinics certainly assist in raising the standard of vaulting not only from Gauteng, but the other provinces and neighbouring countries.”
Gonzaga said the benefits of vaulting included providing a great foundation for any other equestrian discipline, and was good for young children to develop muscle tone and equestrian skills.
“It has been described as gymnastics or dance on the back of a walk/cantering horse that is centrally controlled by a professional lunger in the middle of a circle around 20m.
“For an athlete, it requires the development of core strength, balance, suppleness, and fitness, while at the same time is fun and a very close bond or harmony with the horse is paramount.”
The results were as follows:
Team categories:
- E-Grade team – Won by South Africa (Giana Gonzaga, Goldi Goodman, Lia Van Zyl and Julienne Polchet.)
- D-Grade team – Won by Zimbabwe (Ashley Luphondo and Siyavuya Mgulwa.)
- C-Grade team – Won by South Africa (Shannon Roberts, Catherine Mynhardt, Jennah Mynhardt and Kyla Pretorius.
- Two-star team – Won by South Africa (Jordan Wright and Dimitra Michalakis.)
- Walk pairs team – Won by Mauritius (Eden and Gabrielle Marin.)
The individual category awards:
- Top E-Grade individual: Tamara Lee Hogerzeil of South Africa
- Top D-grade individual: Siyavuya Mgulwa of Zimbabwe
- Top C-Grade individual: Jenna Mynhardt of South Africa
- Top one-star individual: Callum Flanagan of South Africa
- Top two-star individual: Jordan Wright of South Africa
- Top three–star individual: Melanie Harcourt-Cooke of South Africa
In the South African A-team, Jordan Wright top-scored in the event with 7 538 points. Giana Gonzaga followed up with 6 932 points.
In conjunction with the Africa Cup, VASA (Vaulting Association South Africa) and Gauteng Vaulting also hosted an International Qualification, a FEI Concours Voltige International (CVI) 1* Competition which lends itself to the more senior and experienced vaulters who are looking to qualify and compete internationally.
The following vaulters qualified for their FEI CVI one-star – achieving scores higher than 6.50.
- Jenna Blaauw
- Callum Flanagan
- Courtney Gallocher
- Erin Muller/Jordan Wright (Pairs)
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