22-year-old Jarman from Gunthorpe has been training at the club on Mayfield Road for over 14 years alongside the club’s dedicated team of coaches as well as personal coach since the beginning of his journey Ben Howells.
The club itself is no stranger to success having previously produced two-time Olympic silver medallist Louis Smith, 2012 Men’s Team bronze medallist Sam Oldham as well as European and Commonwealth champion Dan Keatings, fellow 2008 Olympians Marissa King and Kayleigh Cooke as well as Commonwealth champion and 2000 Olympian Lisa Mason along with Olympian Katherine Everett, who now runs Spirals Gymnastics Club in Bretton.
The club has had representatives at all of the editions of the Commonwealth Games held in the previous 24 years but there is still one prize that eludes its gymnasts – an Olympic gold medal.
That is something reigning World and European Vault Gold as well as four-time Commonwealth gold medallist Jarman is seeking to change.
Hopes are high for Jarman but the club has been proud to watch the success of one of its own throughout the years and this will continue on to Saturday (July 28) when members will gather to watch Jake kick off his Olympic campaign with the all-important qualification which will decide which Olympic finals he will compete in the following week.
Deputy Head of Men’s Artistic Gymnastics James Barley, who has worked closely with Head Coach and Jake’s personal coach Ben since 2018 said: “I came to the club in 2018, Jake was already doing some phenomenal work then. I was really impressed with everything I saw and the relationship he and Ben had. It was wonderful to watch.
“Watching him transition from a junior to a senior and him wanting it more and more has been fantastic to see.
“One of the most impressive things about him is his phenomenal spatial awareness, he knows where he is in the air all of the time. It’s amazing to watch someone with that natural talent put it together with such hard work.
“I coach a lot of really young boys and they come into the gym so excited to see Jake and they want to be the next Jake Jarman. It’s inspiring to see the effect one person can have on a whole community.”
Club Manager Adam Scott remembers Jake as a late bloomer compared to some of the club’s other well-known names but credited Jake’s success to his incredible hard work.
He added: “He was full of energy but he had some great attributes, like many. I wouldn’t say that he was a standout at his age when he was in our junior boys programme but he had some wonderful qualities, tried hard and was a little bit of a late bloomer.
"His story shows the success of the elite pathway and that it is not all about just having success at a young age. He was very powerful and it took him time to learn to control it and channel his energy better.
“He has an amazing spatial awareness and ability to twist. He can take onboard learning and criticism and react in a really positive way and understand where he needs to tweak and go again.
“You see the finished product on TV but there are maybe 600 goes at it in the gym before that and it’s that ability to be able to tweak and change things that stands out for those that get right to the top.
“The biggest change from watching him has been seeing him develop from a young person into a young adult. He’s taken full ownership of his programme and seeing Ben adapt his coaching style from being the person driving the programme to very much facilitating and advising and allowing Jake to drive his programme. That’s been the most impressive thing I’ve seen.
“I’m massively proud. We’re proud of all of our gymnasts and young people; seeing them grow, develop and achieve wonderful things.
“To have someone right at the top of the sport, inventing his own skills and having the ability to perform to the top of the Olympic standard is amazing.”
Huntingdon Gymnastics Club – which first opened in 1976 – offers classes to its roughly 1400 members of all ages right through preschool up to adults seven days a week and does so by being completely self-funded and officially registered as a charity.
Club manager Adam added: “Our job here is to give all of our members the best gymnastics sessions possible whether they are going to the Olympics or not. We are proud of all our members.
"For us, it’s about far more than just those few children that will end up going to the OIympics. It is about helping every child to reach their own potential, whatever that may be. That is our job.”
With gymnasts such as Jarman, however, whose success has even seen him lend his name to his own move on the Floor ‘The Jarman’ – there is no shortage of inspiration for the next generation.
The Peterborough Telegraph spoke to Junior European Vault Champion Sol Scott, who said: "It’s great here, it’s such a good atmosphere and it’s really fun. All the coaches are great.
“It’s definitely really inspiring to have someone like Jake at the club. We haven’t had someone in quite a while so it’s great to see go to the Olympics. It’s amazing.”
The club is hosting an Olympic Festival – open to all members and their extended families – on Monday (July 29) between 4pm and 9:30pm to watch Team GB compete in the Men’s Team Final.
To find out more about the club visit www.huntingdon-gymnastics.org.
3. Huntingdon Gymnastics Club
Assistant Head Coach of Men's Artistic Gymnastics, James Barley. Photo: David Lowndes
