Gymnastics appears to be booming in the Illawarra, with local clubs returning home with a huge swag of medals from the recent NSW State Championships.
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Athletes from four Wollongong clubs combined for more than 30 medals at the prestigious competition in Rooty Hill, which was open for artistic, trampoline and acrobatic gymnasts.
Headlining the strong form of Illawarra clubs was Oak Flats Albion Park Gymnastics and Acrobatics Club, which picked up 15 medals (mostly gold).
Wollongong City Gymnastics also picked up 10 medals, while Carmel and Co Gymnastics Club Barrack Heights and South Coast Gymnastics Academy tasted some success at the championships.
The competition was used as part of a selection process for the NSW team to compete at this year's National Championships.
The outstanding performance at the state titles is just the latest chapter in a glittered resume for the Oak Flats Albion Park Gymnastics and Acrobatics Club, who are best known for their 'Acromazing' team winning Australia's Got Talent in 2022.
The club also had three members finish seventh at the 2022 World Championships in Azerbaijan.
Now, Oak Flats Albion Park club owner/head coach Kim Lacey said she was proud of her team's achievements at this year's State Championships.
"It was a very good outing. We're hoping to get 31 kids into the NSW team for the National Championships, so we're excited," Lacey told the Mercury.
"We're acrobatic gymnastics, so we compete in pairs and trios. Our trios do a balance routine, a dynamic routine and combined together, and I think three of our trios (level 10, level eight and level seven) won overall. And our mixed pair won level nine as well.
"They all did really well and got high marks. I think our youngest in the comp was eight, and the oldest was 34."
Lacey added that her "small club runs out of a cow shed at Albion Park", but they always fought above their weight.
"We've been around for a very long time, I think we've been here since 1997. We've had a little bit of success, including winning Australia's Got Talent in 2022," she said.
"We've also just had nine kids selected into the Australian team to go to the World Championships in Portugal in September - so we've had a pretty good month."