UCLan student from Lancashire joins the Great Britain Aerobics Gymnastics team

A University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) student from Hesketh Bank in West Lancashire has joined the Great Britain Aerobic Gymnastics squad, the sports' most senior team in the country.

First year dance student, 18 year old Freya Abrams is the only senior gymnast from the North of England to make the 2022 GB Performance squad and has ambitions to represent her country at the Aerobic Gymnastics European and World Championships next year.

It is the first time that the UCLan student had made the GB team following success at events this year, including online competitions and the British Championships in September.

Commenting on her success, Freya said: “I’m really happy and my family are very proud. It will be a new experience that I want to learn from and I’m aiming for a top five finish at the events.”

The former All Hallows Catholic High School and Cardinal Newman College pupil says she has been a gymnast for as long as she can remember but she began to focus on aerobic gymnastics around the age of seven.

Aerobic gymnastics, which is different to the artistic and rhythmic gymnastics you see during the Olympics, stems from traditional aerobics and is a sport performed on a sprung wooden floor with senior routines lasting around one minute and 30 seconds.

Freya explained: “I love the aerobic discipline as it’s a combination of many skills including strength, fitness and flexibility. It’s a growing sport that I hope will one-day feature in the Olympics.”

Currently, Freya juggles training at least four times a week at LK Aerobic Gymnastics in Southport, for around four hours each session, with her undergraduate degree in dance, performance and teaching at UCLan.

She added: “I’ve always been interested in dance and it certainly plays a role in my gymnastics. Through my dance training at UCLan I am given more freedom and can experiment with freestyle routines, whereas a gymnastic routine is very structured. It’s a nice contrast.

“It’s hard work and involves a lot of commitment but it’s absolutely worth it.”