EIGHT members of Deerness Gymnastics Academy will represent their club and country next month as they compete for Great Britain in the World Acrobatic Gymnastic Championships.

All eight gymnasts are current British champions after each winning a gold medal earlier this year, and all are also current European silver medallists.

Taking place in Levallois, Paris, France between July 2-5, the World Championships will showcase spectacular gymnastics from some of the world’s best acrobatic gymnasts.

The competition performances will include intricate balances performed by pairs, trios and quartets, with exciting multiple and twisting somersaults with partners being pitched and caught.

The Durham based gymnasts will compete against the very best acrobatic gymnasts from around the world including Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Russia, Ukraine and the USA to try and become World Champions.

Abbi Greaves, 13, from Ushaw Moor and Chelsea Fisher, 17, from Darlington are competing together for a second year in the 12-18 women’s pair. Fisher and Greaves currently hold the British title and took the silver medal in the European Championships in 2013.

Millie Nesbitt, 15, from Durham and Liam Sneath, 17, from Spennymoor, will be competing as a 12-18 mixed pair. Nesbitt won a World Championship bronze medal in 2012 and silver medal at the European Championships in 2011 as part of a trio, and together with Sneath took the British title this year and the silver medal in the European Championships last year.

In the 11-16 age category Michael Gill, 16, from Ponteland, Nathan Brady, 16, from Durham, Stuart Napier, 15 from Durham and Finn Gavin, 12, from Alnwick will compete in the men’s group. The quartet are current British champions and also took the silver medal in the 2013 European Championships.

“This year we have eight gymnasts selected to represent Great Britain, who have already been successful at both the British and European Championships,” said Stuart Thompson, head of acrobatics at Deerness. “Although they have all represented Great Britain before there is a lot of competition throughout the world in what is a growing discipline of gymnastics.

“Even though they are all very talented gymnasts they will have to perform at their very best in the competition to achieve their goals of a medal.

“In 2012 four gymnasts from Deerness Gymnastics Academy took the gold medal in the senior men's group at the World Championships in Florida so it would be great to build on this success on the world stage.

“The whole club will be getting behind our team as they represent the club and compete for Great Britain at the highest level, aiming to become World Champions.”