Video: Sleaford gymnasts perform tumbling stunts in toilet roll challenge

The now famous ‘toilet roll challenge’, based on the mad scramble for loo rolls in the early days of the coronavirus epidemic ahead of lockdown, was taken up by the gymnasts and led by young Kennedy Shelly.

They composed the segments of the video in their homes under lockdown before joining them all together, passing on the toilet roll after doing each gymnastic trick.

Head Coach Sammi Emsley explained: “One of the girls, Kennedy talked about doing it, then they asked if I would join in. I said I would not be putting a leotard on for the first time in 20 years but they roped me into it.

“We all sent out videos into Kennedy and she used an app called Inshot to edit them and put the finished video on Whatsapp, Facebook and Youtube.

“Everybody loves the video.”

They have since got Sammi to join in another challenge to put on a T-shirt while doing a hand-stand against a wall - which she succeeded in doing!

Some may wonder about some of the somersaults and flips the girls were doing in lounges and back gardens, but Sammi said she had made sure they only practised skills they were already well trained in doing.

She said: “I know what the girls are safe to do and they often do displays in fields and so on.”

She said a lot of the girls have their own kit and crash mats at home as well. “When we were warned we had to close under the restrictions I met the girls to let them borrow little floor beams and gym mats to carry on practising safely at home. They were under strict instructions to do stuff they have already mastered or do general basic skills and flexibility exercises - no new tricks.”

The aim is to make sure they maintain their core skills and muscle memory so they are fit and strong when they return after the lockdown ends.

Gymnastic coach friends of Sammi’s, Alan and Sophie, are currently stuck in Sri Lanka where they were involved in coaching events, unable to return home to the UK at the moment. The club is hoping to involve them in their next video project.

Sammi said: “Alan organises the national competition in Milton Keynes every year and we thought, as he is stuck there, we would get him to do a bit of a task too.”

Sammi is also sending her gymnasts daily challenges to keep up their motivation during the enforced break, explaining: “Nobody knows how long this will go on for. It is a long time and a big difference for the children as gymnastics is their life for some of them, doing 14 hours a week training.”

All the girls are also writing comments about how they feel and what they think about this unprecedented situation in their lives, which they will add to a time capsule to unearth in 10 or 20 years for a reunion.