A WARRNAMBOOL club’s status as an aerobics powerhouse is growing in stature.
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Seven athletes – from Warrnambool-based EKB Aerobics and Fitness – are vying for top honours at the FISAF International World Championships next week.
It’s a talent-laden unit.
Australian captain Emily Daniels, who travels from Torquay to train with the Emma Bellman-led outfit, heads a team loaded with international experience.
It includes Jordan Rooke, Aylish Auchettl, Kayla Bamford, Sophie Bellman and Tiarna Drake – all of which have competed at the sport’s top level.
EKB Fitness and Aerobics coach Emma Bellman said the Warrnambool team “knows what it is up against”.
“For some of us, it’s our third world championships, for some it’s our eighth, for Emily (Daniels) it’s her 10th world championships,” Bellman told The Standard.
“We all do have a level of experience there and we know what we’re up against.”
Bellman said it was vital for her athletes to begin well with a strong opening routine.
“When we get there, we’ll be going for it in our first preliminary round,” she said.
“We get results from there and we can re-evaluate and see what we need to do before the next round.
“Of course, we’re going there with our eye on the prize. But we’ll see how we go first round and push really hard.”
The South West Academy of Sport employee said Rooke faced the most challenging task of the bunch, with the largest male section in a decade set to front the Netherlands for the competition.
“There’s 10 in his section. Our first thing will be just to make finals and move on from there because it is such a large section,” Bellman said.
“Trio and fitness are tough and big sections as there are every year. With an eye on the prize, that’s all you can do. That and focusing on doing our routines well.”
Bellman said with two athletes travelling from the Geelong region, they were only able to train as a unit twice a week.
She said fitness training was expected outside of EKB’s training sessions, which were solely dedicated to routine practice.
“We started training for this at the end of last year, and at the start of this year,” Bellman said.
“We have Aylish and Emily travelling from Geelong. So it’s been not only a team effort, but we’ve all had to put our individual efforts in.
“We can only get together two times a week, and heading to world championships, two times a week isn’t enough.
“We’ve been doing a lot of individual things and stuff outside of training to keep up.”
The world championships begin on October 17.