Aussie boys for gold

It’s been a breakneck flight to the top of the national aerobics competition for our local Gay Games hopefuls, Team Aussie Boys.

The eight-member, all-male aerobics troupe has enjoyed a triumphant run in recent months, first picking up a silver medal at the NSW State Aerobic Championships earlier this year and then scooping another silver at the Australian Aerobic Championships last weekend.

We’re getting better and better. Except for a couple of us, some in the team hadn’t even done aerobics classes before, so if you saw us six months ago you probably would have laughed, founding Team Aussie Boys member Cameron Gray told SSO.

Now the standard is 10 times better, we’re still getting better really quickly and by the time we hit the Games it should be phenomenal.

It will be more than talent that will make the boys stand out at the Team Fitness category of the Gay Games, which takes place at Paddington Town Hall on 4 and 5 November. The team have secured the help of Aussie Boys clothing boutique in creating an iconic Australian lifesaver theme for their routine.

We wanted to strike on something that stood out and appealed to the audience at the Games. The lifesaver outfit worked out really well because it complied with the rules about how much of you has to be covered, but it also gives us a really good theme for our routine, Gray said.

According to Gray, the famed skills of European aerobics teams will prove the biggest challenge for Team Aussie Boys at the Gay Games.

Especially the Germans and the Dutch, Gray said. It can be quite a stressful experience because from the minute you walk on to do your routine you’re basically selling yourselves to the judges, smiling and never acting like you’re tired.

Team Aussie Boys intend to continue their winning run after the Games. Their silver medal at the Australian Championships means the team will now go on to represent the country at the World Aerobic Championships in Prague in November 2003.