A gymnastics powerhouse, the nation repeatedly produces the world's best, with a focus on elite performance starting from a young age.

That makes the recent results from the Wollongong City Gymnastics Club even more impressive, the centre sending a group of girls on a tour of the States in January.

Overall, 16 of the 19 girls secured medals in what coach Alison Crum described as a successful trip.

"It's like a big business over there," Crum said. All the girls are trying to get into college and get sponsored for gymnastics, so they're very competitive over there.

"Their level system is different, the structure of routines is different to here, so we had to learn different skills in a short time, the girls did well to prepare.

"They learnt a lot on the trip, they also matured overall. They had to follow a strict schedule, be ready for the bus, they had to prepare themselves, we had a number of kids go without their parents, so they had to be very organised. It was good for everyone."

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Among the top performers were Caitlin Jones who won two gold medals in level eight and Emelia Withers and Hannah Sheridan who impressed in level nine.

The girls may have only recently returned from the USA, but there was little time to rest, the gymnasts contesting the first round of NSW Trials last weekend.

With a second round of trials coming up and the NSW Titles looming in April, Crum said the girls will use the lessons learnt in America as a platform for continued positive results.

"We had the first state trials on the weekend and we did really well. We have the second state trials in three weeks and then NSW Championships in April.

"From those three events we're hoping to get the girls in the NSW team to compete at Nationals in May or the Border Challenge in July."

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