This year Cambridge hosted our annual Varsity match on Sunday 22 February 2026, and our Oxford team was determined to return home with as many team and individual medals as possible. Both the men’s and women’s teams had been working hard for weeks, perfecting their routines and refining their landings. With strong competition expected from Cambridge, every gymnast knew they needed to deliver their best performance yet.
Our men’s teams featured a mix of experienced returners and new talent. The A team included Alex Karpinski, Han Wong and Max Lin, alongside new Blues recruits Jasper Bell, Kieron Innes and Jake Harrington, who impressively had only joined the club five weeks earlier. After a narrow defeat the previous year which ended a two-year winning streak, the team knew the competition would be intense.
Starting on floor, very solid scores were awarded, resulting in this being our highest scoring event of the competition. Strong arabesques and smooth corner transitions impressed the judges, and despite performing a slightly simplified routine, Alex secured the second highest score overall. Jake also deserves recognition for regaining his handspring just in time for the event, following a brief 8-year hiatus. Pommel horse followed, traditionally one of the more challenging apparatus for the team, but solid routines from Jasper and Han helped us to maintain momentum. An effort was made by Kieron to increase his difficulty, but his routine suffered an unfortunate fall.
Rings proved to be a highlight, particularly in comparison to Cambridge, with Han delivering an especially polished routine. After a short lunch break, the team moved to vault, where clean execution and several stuck landings contributed to steady scores, despite lower difficulty than Cambridge. On parallel bars, Kieron achieved the second highest score of the entire competition, showcasing great handstands! The final apparatus was high bar, which had been a difficult event throughout the term due to a plethora of rips: only four gymnasts competed, but we pushed through regardless. Max’s giants were a standout moment and the team finished on a determined, if very bloody, note.
Sadly, Oxford’s hopes for Gold were trumped by Cambridge’s consistency and breadth of talent, which nonetheless made for a very exciting watch. Brilliant performances were seen throughout the day, and we are ready to claim back our title next year!
The B team also delivered an impressive performance. Returning members Joseph Shewfelt and Akum Pongen were joined by Harrison Silver, Evan Willey, Elliot Rees and David Nana. With many new faces, the team was eager to prove themselves following last year’s victory.
They began on pommel horse, where Harrison and Elliot produced solid routines. Rings once again proved to be a strength, with fresher Evan’s uprise earning him the highest score of the B competition, narrowly ahead of Akum’s clean routine. On floor, Joseph’s twisting and high-level tumbling blew away the competition, alongside David’s sky – high layout. Parallel bars saw strong performances from five gymnasts, with Harrison achieving a particularly high score. On high bar, Elliot’s careful attention to the code was evident in his polished routine. The team finished on vault, where clean execution and increased difficulty, including David’s half on full off, resulted in many scores that surpassed Cambridge’s best vaulter.
Oxford secured a decisive victory with nearly a four-point lead, marking a significant improvement on the previous year. Evan’s performance was especially notable, placing second individually in his first year of gymnastics!
The guest men’s team featured Willem Keiser Petch, Ollie Carter, Suryava Bhattacharya and Ben Liow. Oxford dominated this category, taking all medal positions. Ollie and Willem competed across all six apparatus, finishing first and second respectively. Suryava delivered strong work on rings, while Willem’s floor routine, featuring multiple stuck landings, provided an excellent start to the competition.
Our WAG A team consisted of Nina Estermann, Julia Bellardo, Ksenia Kunznetsova, Kira Patel and Charlotte Hampson. Although we narrowly missed out on a win last year, we were confident that our team had a good shot at the trophy this time around. The team started on bars, where they demonstrated solid performances all around with only one fall. They then moved on to vault, where again we were able to count four strong vaults without falls. Although Nina did put her hands down on her landing, she was able to make an attempt at a Tsuk, one of the most difficult vaults of the competition.
The gymnasts’ next piece was beam. We saw many difficult skills attempted, including a flick from Julia and a split change leap from Nina. Although there were a few falls registered, many gymnasts were able to post very high scores regardless, due to their D scores and solid execution. The team finished on floor. We saw some beautiful artistry and complex tumbles throughout, with very respectable scores from all five gymnasts. When it came to the medal presentation, Nina received a silver medal overall. The team as a whole came first with a score of 188.15 to Cambridge’s 186.4. Nina, Charlotte and Ksenia received half blues as a result of their Varsity performance, in combination with their appearance at BUCS Grade 2.
Our WAG B team consisted of Emma Dix, Cadence James, Beth Waterfield, Isabella White and Julia Ogden. This team was able to take home the win last year, and we had high hopes of doing the same this year. The gymnasts began on bars, and four routines hitting all requirements were performed. Beth was even able to achieve a bonus by performing her upstart. Our next piece was vault. This was one of our weaker pieces of the competition, with a few gymnasts performing uncoded vaults and others not executing their vaults to the highest standard they are capable of. Despite this, our overall vault total was only a few points behind that of Cambridge.
After the break, we moved on to floor. Again, artistry throughout the floor rotation was incredible. We saw many saltos, both forwards and backwards, as well as some very complex dance passes. Execution was generally clean. Our final piece was beam. Most of our gymnasts got through a clean routine without any falls. Emma and Cadence were able to achieve bonuses using their back walkovers. Our gymnasts claimed the top two positions on the medal podium, with Beth achieving silver and Cadence earning a gold. This led our team to an overall victory, with a score of 135.15 surpassing Cambridge’s 128.1.
Competing as guests this year were Golssa Tehrani, Emily Smitherman, Will Atkins and Emma Glasspool. On bars, we saw some very complex skills, including some giants from Emma. On vault, Golssa was able to post a score but unfortunately sustained an injury, so did not participate in the rest of the competition. The other three gymnasts were able to get through the piece cleanly. Emma and Will both competed on beam, with Emma demonstrating a full routine and Will presenting her full twisting gainer off the side of the beam. Emily was able to present a clean floor routine, despite an MCL tear earlier on in the competition season. Will and Emma also competed their floor routines, showing off some impressive tumbles. Emma received an overall gold medal for her performance.
We are super-duper proud of everybody who competed and can’t wait to shoes the tabs again next year!
Alex and Emma
Captains 2025/26
Oxford University Gymnastics Club 