Oakleigh Recreation Centre - Olympic dream factory for gymnasts

Three Waverley gymnasts preparing for the Paris Olympics

Paris has always been popular with the world traveller - the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Moulin Rouge and Arc de Triomphe are among the most beloved tourist destinations in the world.

But from 26 July – 12 August this year, the world’s focus will swing briefly from baguettes, mime artists and the Tour de France field storming to the finish line down the Champs-Élysées, to the greatest show on earth - the 2024 Summer Olympics, the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad.

And this year’s Paris Games will have a distinctly Monash flavour as three athletes from the Oakleigh-based Waverley Gymnastics Centre - Romi Brown, Breanna Scott and Emily Whitehead – are front and centre for selection to the Australian Women’s Artistic Gymnastics team.

Australia qualified a full team for the Paris Olympics - the first time it has done so since the London Games of 2012 - when, needing to finish in the top 12, it was ranked ninth at the World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium in October 2023. Waverley’s Emily and Breanna were members of the team that booked Australia’s ticket to the biggest sporting event in the world.

Waverley Gymnastic Centre’s High Performance Manager Matt Scholes said the three gymnasts are currently engaged in an intense qualification campaign against the nation’s best.

“There’s a lot of pressure, particularly for the ones who haven’t been to an Olympics before,” he said. “But we’re confident all three of our Olympic hopefuls will put in high level performances, giving all of them the best chance possible to be selected in the team.

“Emily has been to an Olympics (Tokyo 2020) and her experience will help keep them grounded. And Romi is coming back from an injured knee, but she’s looking really, really good.”

Emily, 23, is a seasoned campaigner at national championship and international level, and competed at the Gold Coast 2018 and Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, claiming one silver and three bronze medals.

Romi, 21, is starting to build an impressive international CV having competed at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and the 2022 World Championships in Liverpool.

Breanna, 22, completes the Waverley trio. Originally based in Sydney she moved south of the Murray to join the Waverley program in 2023, bringing with her a career résumé that includes Commonwealth Games, World Championships and a bronze medal on the floor at the 2023 World Cup in Doha.

Under the guidance of Waverley’s Senior International coach Yusuf Topari and the club’s International Stream head coach John Hart, the Waverley Olympic trio is leaving no stone unturned in its quest to secure Olympic selection.

“And they are the nicest young women you could ever hope to meet,” Matt said. “All of them study, they’re humble, they come from great gymnastics families, and all are outstanding role models.”

Since the World Championships success in Belgium, there’s been little opportunity for any resting on laurels, with a hectic competition schedule standing between the gymnasts and a trip to the City of Light.

In March, Breanna and Emily helped Australia to a second-placed finish at the DTB Pokal Team Challenge in Stuttgart, Germany before returning home and joining forces with Romi to contest the Victorian Championships in Geelong. Breanna (first), Emily (second) and Romi (third) dominated the podium to secure a Waverley trifecta.

Later this month, the nation’s top gymnasts will head to the Gold Coast for the Australian Championships, where all the main contenders for Paris selection will go head-to-head. Then, immediately after the nationals, Romi and Breanna will have another opportunity to state their case to selectors when they compete at the Continental Championships in Auckland, New Zealand.

The final team for the Paris Games is expected to be announced in June.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME - AND ORC IS A PRETTY NICE RESIDENCE!

Formed in 1987, Waverley Gymnastics Centre has grown from humble beginnings and is now home to almost 2500 gymnasts ranging in age and ability levels from the very youngest of juniors to senior international competitors. A staff of nearly 80 coaches is required to help shape their gymnastics careers.

In 2021 Waverley moved from an outdated home, in what had once been the Syndal Technical School hall in Mount Waverley’s Dorrington Drive, to a purpose-built training venue that made up part of Council’s $25 million Oakleigh Recreation Centre redevelopment.

The ORC facility is an integrated multi-purpose sports precinct incorporating a health club, with group fitness classes and strength and conditioning equipment; a stadium for basketball, netball and volleyball; and aquatics activities, with a 50m lap pool, dive pool, multi-purpose pool, and toddler splash pad.

And it now boasts a gymnastics training venue the envy of any program in the country.

“It’s pretty remarkable for a local council to have created something like this,” Matt said. “We want to make this a destination club (that people are willing to travel to). We’ve got this amazing centre, it’s the best venue in Australia. We can’t thank Monash Council enough.”

Council’s ORC has partnered with WGC to enable the three athletes additional access to their world class Pilates reformer studio, and its strength and conditioning gym to further support their Olympic campaign.

The Oakleigh Recreation Centre won the Community Facility of the Year award at the Parks and Leisure Australia 2021 Awards of Excellence (VIC/TAS). Waverley’s former training venue in Dorrington Drive is now the site of the $6.3 million Dorrington Child and Family Hub, an integrated early years facility that is scheduled to be ready for service delivery in 2025.

LEND OUR ASPIRING OLYMPIANS A HELPING HAND

Success, particularly of the Olympic variety, isn’t handed out free of charge at the gym door.

Every week 32 hours spent on the training floor swells to 45 hours when you add in strength and conditioning training and rehab sessions with the physio. Throw in tertiary studies and part-time employment, and there’s not much time left in the week for anything much more than eating, sleeping and packing the kit bag for the next training session.

With gymnastics - and women’s sport in general – lacking any great degree of funding, Emily, Breanna and Romi are getting by on the smell of an oily rag. It’s something Waverley is committed to changing in the future.

“We’re trying to get sponsorship for our three Olympic hopefuls,” Matt said. “In fact, by 2028 it’s our goal that all our top-end gymnasts will be semi-professional. Nothing massive, you understand, but just enough to help pay some of the bills.

“All of these athletes have huge followings on-line. And women’s gymnastics is one of the most watched sports at every Olympics. They’d be great role models in schools and at clubs, while they can continue to be committed to being elite athletes.

“We don’t want gymnastics to be seen as an '18 and done’ sport anymore.”

Find out more and join the excitement as Paris 2024 approaches:

WAVERLEY GYMNASTICS CENTRE

Address: Oakleigh Recreation Centre. 2A Park Road Oakleigh, Victoria 3166

Mail: PO Box 971 Mount Waverley, Victoria 3149

Phone: 9887 9611

Email: admin@wgc.org.au

Website: https://wgc.org.au

OAKLEIGH RECREATION CENTRE

Address: 2A Park Road, Oakleigh 3166

Phone: 9265 4888

Email: activemonash@monash.vic.gov.au