12:00a.m. 1st April 2008

It was our swimmers’ turn last week, but when the Olympic gymnastic trials roll round, keep an eye out for these two.

Maybe not for Beijing – more likely London 2012.

Cooroy Gymnastics Club’s Marven Ford and Leah Vassallo head to Townsville next week to compete at the North Queensland Games, the largest regional multi-sport tournament in Australia. Ford and Vassallo, both 12, will join some 6,400 other competitors at the event, with Luke Evans – head coach at the Cooroy club – expecting big things from his two high-performance athletes.

“They’ll be competitive, I’ve got high hopes,” he said.

“Both are working at level six, they are high-performance gymnasts.

“I’ve been working with Marven for about a year, he’s come a long, long way – he’s very good, very strong. Definitely one of our best.”

Evans said the pair’s best chances would come in the high bar, for Ford, and the floor, for Vassallo.

The biennial North Queensland Games start on April 11, including sports from AFL to waterski racing and darts.