A team of young Mandurah rock climbers have scaled the ranks in a national championship, with one teen climber qualifying for an international competition.
Seven squad members represented Mandurah Indoor Rock Climbing Centre at the National Youth Sports Climbing Championship from April 18 to 21.
The young climbers, who range in age from 12 to 16 and are part of WA’s State team, competed in a range of bouldering and climbing events across the competition.
The club’s best performer was James Mouton, who won the under-16 boulder championship and finished ranked number one in the country.
His effort has seen him selected to represent Australia in the Youth National Team, which will travel to China in August to compete in the International Federation of Sport Climbing Youth World Championships.
Other team members who placed in the competition included Bastion Finkel, who came third in the lead championship, and Dylan Bailey, who finished ranked 10th overall in the male under-16s competition.
Mandurah Indoor Rock Climbing Centre trainer Zed Colback said the gym was proud of their climbers’ efforts.
“It’s just so incredible that from a little family gym we can have such strong climbers that are putting on incredible performances nationally,” he said.
“We’re incredibly stoked; everyone here is buzzing.
“We’ve put our heart and soul into these young people. The community here are all contributing to this space and to this environment, so it’s a win for everyone.
“You don’t often really see it as a sport, it’s only just been in the Olympics once. So it’s a pretty young sport in the scene of what people consider as competitive sport and that (the result) is super exciting for Mandurah.”