Loughborough College took a UK Fitness Trainer crown for the second year in a row and secured a double medal win at the 2016 World Skills finals.
After three days of tough challenges, the College dominated the Personal Trainer top spots with Terri Musson scooping gold and Jack Burbank securing bronze – and Jack securing an additional unique accolade.
Selection was rigorous for this year’s competition with entries up 45% on 2015. Only 70 Gym Instructors and Personal Trainers from the whole country were chosen to compete across the regions, with Loughborough College student Terri named winner in the Personal Trainer category and fellow students Emma Foley and Ai Lin Leow taking first and second place in the Gym Instructor category. Meanwhile a high points score from Jack, who won the 2015 national Gym Instructor title, assured him a semi-final place alongside Terri, Ai Lin and Emma.
The competition, in collaboration with Association of Colleges Sport, saw 17 competitors go head in the semi-final with Terri, Ai Lin and Jack all triumphing to book their places in the final, held at the NEC in Birmingham.
Mark Thorpe, Lecturer in Exercise and Fitness at Loughborough College said: “After three days of tense competition against the best fitness instructors in the UK it is absolutely phenomenal that we have dominated the personal trainer category and taken the gold and bronze medal positions.
“All of the Loughborough College competitors conducted themselves professionally under nerve-wracking conditions, endlessly being scrutinised by industry expert judges during a series of tasks. My nerves were shot and I was only watching!
“For all three students to reach the national final and come away with two medals is testament to their hard work and dedication. They are establishing themselves as the best right at the start of their careers.
“To have our students make up 25% of national finalists and come away with two medals also shows how our vocational fitness courses at Loughborough College are really raising the bar within the fitness industry.
“This really was the highlight of my 17 years in teaching.”
Terri Musson added: “You do your best to focus but you are also aware that there are not only four judges analyzing everything you do and giving nothing away but also hundreds of eyes in a massive venue, watching you.
“It was particularly daunting at one point to suddenly be handed a head mike and be told we had to promote a piece of gym equipment to the crowd.
“When they called my name at the awards ceremony I stood up and screamed and then I was nervous about falling over in heels as I went up onto the stage, after wearing trainers for days.
“After accepting my medal, I was shaking like a leaf and couldn’t stop laughing – and then I cried. I was really happy but think I was just so overwhelmed after putting so much into the competition.”
Terri works as a classroom assistant with young people with special needs at Ashmount School in Loughborough and is now watching her personal training client list grow.
“I have clients aged from their mid twenties to their mid seventies and this has all been such a boost to that. The Fitness Instructing and Personal Trainer courses at the College have been fantastic and my tutors Mark and Hannah Jackson so supportive and inspirational. It’s been such a great experience, and to top it off with a national gold medal has been amazing.”
“The best thing for me throughout this competition has been the Loughborough College team spirit – the friendship between us and the genuine support for each other,” said Ai Lin – and she admits she still cannot quite believe she reached the national finals while still studying for her diploma in Exercise and Fitness at the College.
“To have my potential recognized amongst competitors from across the country is such a boost. Without a doubt the course equipped me with the skills to do that – and to hit the ground running with my career in the fitness industry.”
After taking the 2015 Gym Instructor title Jack was thrilled to medal for the second year in a row with Personal Trainer bronze. “I was chuffed enough with that but then I was also given a unique, Highly-Commended Award by the organisers.
“They said it was in recognition of achieving a maximum 40 out of 40 marks in the gym equipment pitch as well as my resilience and how I conducted myself throughout the competition. To think that award had been created just for me blew me away.”
In addition to working at the Radmoor Centre in Loughborough and developing his own fitness business, Jack is being mentored by ITV celebrity trainer Richard Callender. “I have had so much support from my family and the College and then Richard… This year really has moved at 100 miles an hour.”
Pictured: (left to right) Loughborough College sports students Jack Burbank, Ai Lin Leow and Terri Musson after a double medal win at the World Skills UK 2016 Fitness Trainer Competition final.