Celina Fitzpatrick

Alisa Fitzpatrick 9th, Celina Fitzpatrick 12th.

On June 4th, both Alisa and Celina Fitzpatrick represented Ireland in the Junior (under 19) Artistic Cycling 31st European Championships which were held in Hoechst, Austria.

Celina with a new program in her first year at junior level had to increase her activities from 25 to 30 to be performed in the same time of 5 minutes. This was quite a challenge and her fighting spirit helped her to hold on to her target position of 12th. It was a great start to Celina’s European ambitions and she will, no doubt, aim to get closer to her target points of 94.50 for this year.

Alisa, in her last year at junior level, had a starting target of 10th place with 102,80 points. With her solid experience gained at this level over the last three years, Alisa put in an almost perfect performance to move up to 9th place with only a few points separating her from the Austrian girl who finished in 8th. With a result of 91,57 Alisa, for the third time this year, has broken the 90 point zone setting personal bests. Her aim for the remainder of the year is to try to break into the 100′s.

Following the tragic death of their uncle, Matthew Fitzpatrick (www.justiceformatthew.com), who was tragically killed in Mannheim before Christmas we considered not to compete in the competition this year. Matthew was an avid supporter of the girls, photographing and following their cycling activities with great interest. The girls, however, were determined to participate in the competition for Matthew, who had planned to be there, and they did both Matthew and Ireland very proud. On top of that, they also carried the additional weight of losing both their Grandfather and Granduncle in Germany around the same time.

We are also very proud of both of their achievements and how they proudly represented Ireland and we wish them much success in their personal goals for the remainder of 2011.

Here is the Junior girls results table:

and the link for more photos of the two:

www.turnfestbilder.com

on the top left hand click on Online-Gallery Einstiegsseite

then click on Europameisterschaft der Junioren

then scroll down to 1er Juniorinnen and click on that
then scroll down through the names and you will see Alisa first and then Celina

In their last competition for 2010 both Alisa and Celina Fitzpatrick travelled to Geispolsheim, just outside Strasbourg, for the French International championships “Inters de Geispolsheim”.

Celina was first on in the morning in the girls under 15. Against very strong German and French competition, she finished in a commendable 4th. place in what was to be her last competition at this level. Next year, Celina will join her sister at junior level. Alisa competed in the girls under 19. Her two main French competitors were the same two who finished just ahead of her in 9th and 10th places at the European Championships earlier this year. This time, Alisa did more than enough to separate the two and finish in a well deserved 2nd place.

Both will now concentrate on building on their programs for 2011.

Alisa Fitzpatrick 2nd in the 2010 Youth International Tournament (Turnier der Jugend 2010)
Two major competitions took place on October 17th last where both Alisa and Celina Fitzpatrick were in action.

Celina Fitzpatrick 5th in the 2010 Bavarian Cup Final

Celina competed in the Bavarian Cup final which was held in Munich, Germany. Her target was to finish in 7th place in the girls under 15, the position where she finished last year. A very strong performance resulted in Celina finishing in a well deserved 5th place at the event.

Alisa had also qualified for the Bavarian finals but opted instead to compete for Ireland at the Youth International Tournament held on the same day some 400km away in Frankenthal, Germany. In the Junior girls under 19, Alisa competed against representatives from Germany, Slovakia and Holland. Last year at the same competition she just missed out on the bronze but this year this was not to be. A solid performance ensured that Alisa secured second place and the silver trophy ahead of Slovakia and Holland. As expected the girls under 19 was won by Germany.

Alisa and Celina Fitzpatrick in action in Portumna.

Artistic Cycling – training in Portumna

The Town Hall, in the scenic town of Portumna Co. Galway, became the training venue for Alisa and Celina Fitzpatrick during their short summer break here this August. The daily two hours training was visited by both locals and visitors to the town where the girls were able to demonstrate the basic learning skills in artistic cycling leading up to their current competitive programmes.

Photos of the training sessions in Portumna can be seen on http://gallery.me.com/jfhynes#100681&bgcolor=black&view=grid and http://gallery.me.com/jfhynes#100691&bgcolor=black&view=grid 

Many thanks to the Town Hall committee and especially to Jim Hynes for the photos and for making this happen. It is hoped that the same can be done again next August where a special session will be set aside for public viewing. Upon their return to Germany the girls were off to a two day intensive training course in Munich which has been used to help in preparing them for the upcoming competitions which will take place in Germany and France over the next few months. 

Update on the impressive artistic cycling progress of Alisha and Celina Fitzpatrick, thanks to Danny Fitzpatrick.

Alisa and Celina Fitzpatrick have again been active throughout the first half of 2010 with Alisa competing at junior level and Celina in the under 15′s.

Following an injury ridden but successful year in 2009 with the add-on of a planned knee surgery before last Christmas, Alisa wasted no time in getting back on her bike and into competition mode in February this year. Starting her competitive build up for the European Championships she came 3rd. in the Oberbayern (Upper-Bavaria) Championships with a solid 77.77 point performance. This was followed up with 10th. place in the “Sonnenstuhl” Cup and in March she came 12th. in the International Spring Cup in Switzerland. On May 15th. Alsa put in a tremenduous performance in the European Championships in Ludwigslust, Germany. She finished in her targeted 11th. place less than 3 points away from 10th. place. To wrap up the first 6 months, Alisa competed in the Bavarian Cup series held in Munich on June 19th. There she set a new personal best of 89.39 points taking the bronze medal in the process.   

Celina, in the meantime, commenced with her 2010 campaign at the “Sonnenstuhl” Cup on February 20th. There she came in 8th. place with 58.89 points. On to the Oberbayern Championships, Celina set a new personal best of 63.75 points and picked up the silver medal in the process. On May 8th. she competed in the Bavarian Championships in Sulzbach (near Frankfurt) and did very well to come in 9th. place. Like Alisa, Celina competed in the Bavarian Cup series in Munich and although she came slightly below her personal best she was able to secure the silver medal. To wrap up the season before the holiday period, Celina competed in the Untermain Cup in Elsenfeld, Germany on July 17th and finished in 8th position.

Congratulations are in store for both as their performances for the first half of this year have placed them in the top 8th in Bavaria in their respective groups and, as a result, both have qualified for the Bavarian Cup final which will be held in Munich on October 17th. 2010. Alisa, though, is considering to opt out so that she can represent Ireland again in the International Youth Competition which will be held in Worms also on October 17th. and where she came 4th. last year.

A well deserved summer break is planned for them both in Portumna, Co. Galway during the month of August.

Indoor cycling is an artistic form of cycling, similar to gymnastics, where the athlete performs a routine and the performance is judged. The sport is especially popular in Germany – where Ireland’s Alisa Fitzpatrick is a top performer. Read on for a report on her latest events.

On Saturday, both Alisa and Celina together with one other member from our club performed in the Wormser Kunstradsport Cup (European Team Cup). Out of the 56 teams competing they finished in 24th place some 13 places higher than expected. Celina performed almost 100% of her target and set a new personal best of 55.20 points.

On Sunday, Celina competed in the 2009 Bayern Cup final in Roth (Nuernberg) and finished in a well earned 7th place, one place higher than expected.

On the same day Alisa remained in Worms to compete in her Irish colours in the 2009 Youth International event. The competition was strong as she was competing against some countries who were in the recent European Championships. We were hoping for a 7th. place finishing. Alisa put in a tremendous performance to finish in 4th place, just missing out on the bronze. What a great result especially on her 16th. birthday.

Here is a photo from the event. There will be more on turnfestbilder.com in the next days.

Best wishes to all from a very happy team,
 
Danny (proud father)

Both Alisa and her sister Celina competed in the “Untermain-Cup 2009″ in Elsenfeld near Frankfurt.

Alisa’s target was 87.40 points (as was her target in the European Championships) and a finishing position of 7th. in the Juniors. With a superb performance she ended up in 5th place but more importantly she smashed her previous best of 71.41 and set a new personal best of 79.86 points.

Celina competed in the 12 to 14 year old group with a target of 57.30 points and a finishing position of 9th. A near perfection performance resulted in Celina also finishing in 5th. place  and ach ieving a new personal best of 54.62 points.

Hi! My name is Alisa Fitzpatrick, I’m 15 years old and I participated in the recent European Championships for indoor (artistic) cycling in Heerlen (NL). It was a great honour for me to represent Ireland in this sport.

First I would like to give a little background about artistic cycling. It was founded by an American over 100 years ago and features mainly in central and east Europe and in some Asian countries. Artistic cycling is a form of competitive indoor cycling in which athletes perform exercises for points on specialized, fixed gear bikes in a format similar to gymnastics. The exercises are performed before judges in five minute rounds by singles, pairs, four- or six-person teams. Points are determined in advance based on the difficulty of each exercise and are then awarded based on the judges’ scoring of each exercise. In the juniors (between 14 and 18 years) you have to perform 30 different exercises.

The decision was taken last year during the World Championships where one of my trainers Doris Niedermaier asked me if I wanted to compete in the European championships. So I answered yes . The following half year, training started getting harder. I had already been doing the sport for the last 5 to 6 years.

We contacted Cycling Ireland who was very interested and supportive. So everything was planned for the European Championships 2009. But after a major accident, which included an operation, we weren’t so sure anymore if I could start or not.

In April my dad and I flew over to Dublin where we met Geoff Liffey and Michael Concannon to tell them about Artistic Cycling. Actually it was planned that I would also do a demo, but back then I still wasn’t allowed to go on the bike because of the injury, so we showed a video. At the meeting I was presented with the Irish outfit for which I felt and still feel very proud.

When I recovered from the injury and with three weeks remaining before the championships training became harder than ever. We also went into the hall on Sundays.

We arrived in Heerlen three days before the competition. We did some light training over the next days. Various countries began to arrive and I felt really good and confident. German, Swiss and Austrian teams also stayed in our hotel. The atmosphere was very exciting. During the official opening I carried the Irish flag in the parade. The hall at that stage was very full with over 16 nations competing.

On the morning of the competition my confidence completely disappeared. I was very nervous that I couldn’t meet my expectations and disappoint my trainer and the fans who came to support me. In the end the event was a total success, although I expected to lose fewer points, and I came 11th.

I also learnt that when you think you can’t anymore you still can do it if you really want it! A big thank you to my trainer Robert Niedermaier who put all the effort and time in to train me! Thank you to Doris Niedermaier for her immense support. Also thanks to my club who came all the way up to support me. To know you have so much support is amazing! I really enjoyed the European championships and hope to compete next year again in Ludwigslust, Germany.

Report by Alisa Fitzpatrick

Alisa in action

Despite suffering an injury several weeks before the competition the montivated Germany based Junior impressed the judges with her performance, resulting in 8th place overall. Indoor cycling is hugely popular in Germany, and is a more artistic side to the sport than we are used to. Check out the website HERE and there are several photos of Alisa on page 23 in the photo album. And more photos HERE Well done Alisa!!