In profile: gymnast Tahlya Smith

Rhythmic gymnast, Tahlya Smith, Year 12
Rhythmic gymnast Tahlya Smith, Year 12

By Megan Fritsch, Head of Sport

At the age of 7, Radford student Tahlya Smith was drawn to the sport of rhythmic gymnastics. Rhythmic Gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon or rope. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics. Since commencing at Radford College in Year 7, and now graduating this week with her Year 12 class of 2021, Tahlya has averaged 25+ hours of training each week, while managing her academic studies.

Tahlya has represented the ACT and NSW for at least the past six years at the Australian National Gymnastics Championships, and she has attended numerous training camps, at the AIS and overseas, as part of the Gymnastics Australia ‘Team Future’ program. A stand-out achievement for Tahlya was being selected to represent Australia at the first FIG Junior World Championships in 2019, held in Moscow, Russia. Team Australia consisted of five gymnasts and finished the competition placing 29th in the world.

In 2021, while focused on her Year 12 studies, she is competing as a second-year high-performance athlete at the Senior International Level. Tahlya is currently trialling with Premier Gymnastics QLD in the high performance Senior International Group. This group consists of athletes who have returned from the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games and will be aiming for qualification to represent Australia at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

The Sports Department asked Tahlya if she would like to say a few words – this is what she said:

‘I would like to thank all my teachers since Year 7 – the support that each and every one of them has given me over the years has really helped me to balance my sporting commitment with my academic goals. A special thanks to Ms Kelly, my tutor teacher in Year 10, and my Head of Year, Ms Coll, who were both strengths for me when I had to relocate to Sydney for three months to train for the Junior World Championships, which was an extremely hard year to keep up with all my studies. They were both so caring, kind and supportive and I could tell they were proud of what I was doing.'

Congratulations, Tahlya, on an amazing junior gymnastics career. We are looking forward to following your journey as you work towards your Olympic goal.

** Our Radford students not only participate and compete for our college, but some are competing at National and International levels in sports that are not available at the school. The Radford Sports Department CCSports@radford.act.edu.au would love to hear about these achievements so that we can acknowledge and celebrate the success, commitment and balance of studies and sport.

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