THE Ultima Trampoline Club relished rubbing shoulders with some of the sport’s top stars at the Frivolten Cup in Sweden.

The Wickford based club took a team of 10 performers to the event.

And Graham Parker, Ultima’s high performance coach, was delighted with how the youngsters performed.

“It was a very good standard but we had some fantastic results which I was really happy about,” said Parker.

“There were more than 500 performers taking part and the majority of them will be competing in the World Championships in Bulgaria later in the year.

“For us to be up against them was similar to a non-league club playing against a team in the Premier League.

“But a lot of our gymnasts are at the start of their careers, some are 10 and 12, so for them to be taking part in an event like this was a fantastic experience and one I know they will all take a lot from.”

Millie Slatford, 10, was the first performer from the club to compete with her new routines.

She presented to the judges then went onto show just what a threat she will be in the future as two super routines saw her secure a new personal best.

Lauren Reynolds, 12, performed her new voluntary which included a double back somersault.

She left the arena with her head held high after two quality routines.

Emma Ince delivered her routines under the pressure of a huge field of 87 while Melissa Knight came highest in the group with performances that showed that she has a great future ahead of her within the sport.

New to this grade of competition, Holly Tanner performed the best she has ever done at a competition before Lauren Bembrick Taylor and Lilly Osman both competed in the 15-16 age group.

Lauren managed her new voluntary and saved herself a few times to deliver a routine she had not completed before the day.

In the Men’s Open Competition, Tom Gregory hit his goals of performing his new routine elements while Joe Harris continued his comeback from two years of difficulties within the sport.

He led after the first flight of the sets, looking sheer class.

He performed a stunning voluntary that had a difficulty of just 9.7 against top guns performing 15 plus difficulty - a huge margin to make up.

Yet right up to the very last performer he was in contention for the final.

He missed out by a small margin but earned the respect of his peers for his performances.