NEW TERRITORY FOR Mimi Moloney and Maeve McGuinness but they are ready for what’s coming in the Zagreb Arena over the coming days.

Moloney, 16, and 18-year-old McGuinness are making their senior European Gymnastics Championships debuts in a four-strong Ireland team that also features the ultra-experienced Emma Slevin and Bláthnaid Higgins.

Despite being the youngest team member, Moloney has shown she can flourish under pressure. The Cork teenager finished second to Emma Slevin in the national all-around championships in May, going head-to-head with the Galwegian across the floor, beam, vault and uneven bars.

The following month she went one better, claiming all-around gold at the renowned Šalamunov Memorial event in Slovenia.

It is another significant step for a gymnast whose promise was already evident at the 2024 Junior Europeans in Rimini. Ireland’s sole representative at the championships, Moloney had to compete without the support of team-mates while rival nations fielded full squads, yet she still finished inside the top 24 in the all-around.

But then Moloney has always been driven. Born a few weeks early, weighing 4.6lbs, she spent the first weeks of her life in a neonatal unit but her mother remembers baby Mimi pulling out tubes, clearly determined to get home.

Later, in her first ever national competition, she ran into the vault and the impact left a mark on her nose for several years. That didn’t stop her redoing the exercise, even though she had already registered no score.

Now she has the opportunity to experience a very different environment and an elevated level of competition. “I’m very excited since it’s my first one, it’s the biggest week of my career so far,” Moloney acknowledged. “It’s going to be a different experience to the Juniors, but all the past competitions have improved my confidence.

“It’s great to be going with a team and having other people around – and we have a great team competing. We’ll all be able to encourage each other and there’s a good team spirit.

“Everyone wants the best for each other. It’s always good to have people like Emma around to encourage you, and we encourage each other.”

Despite her rapid progress, Moloney’s focus on gymnastics only narrowed when she was 11 or 12. She enjoyed swimming and hockey, her parents’ sport, as a youngster before eventually committing fully to gymnastics around four years ago. The variety of the sport was one of its biggest attractions.

“Having the four apparatus is interesting, there are so many different skills. Like, if one isn’t for you, then there’s more options,” she explained. “And I like to compete on the floor, it’s definitely my favourite.”

There are no grand predictions for her senior European debut. “I’m just looking to go and do a clean competition,” said the quietly-spoken Moloney. “I don’t have a lot of expectations. I know there’s a lot of other people competing. Enjoying it is the main thing. If you enjoy it, it will all go well.”

Her development has been supported by her club, Douglas, and the Ireland set-up, with regular national squad weekends at Abbotstown forming part of her routine.

She has also maintained interests beyond gymnastics. During her Transition Year at Scoil Mhuire, Moloney travelled to Paris, performed in a school play and completed work experience that included coaching in a gym and shadowing a physiotherapist.

“I have a lot of dreams and hopes, so we’ll see where it goes,” she says. “I like to keep my school and gym quite separate, but they do know and they’re very supportive.”

McGuinness, meanwhile, is also preparing for her senior European bow and she arrived in Croatia with a defined team target.

“The goal would be to qualify for the Worlds,” she says. “It’s a hard task to do, but I think this is the best chance we’ve had.”

McGuinness’s own gmynastics journey began with her two older sisters and twin Sophie, with all four members of the family becoming involved in gymnastics.

She and Sophie progressed together, eventually competing at the Junior Europeans, before her twin stepped away from the sport last year. Maeve has continued to climb through the ranks.

“It’s a really nice environment that’s created here. I love everyone that I train with, it makes it fun and light-hearted,” she said.

She trains at Abbotstown three or four times a week, with another session at Phoenix, while preparing to enter her Leaving Certificate year.

“I also like the challenge that it gives me,” McGuinness said. “It helps me in school because I don’t have as much time and I have to prioritise being productive at home, so it’s helped me with my time-management skills.”

Engineering or science are among the possibilities for college, while following Slevin’s route into NCAA gymnastics is another option further down the line.

Slevin’s success has already changed what younger Irish gymnasts believe is possible. “Emma’s definitely been a trailblazer for the sport in many aspects,” McGuinness reflected.

“I wouldn’t have thought about college gymnastics until she had done it, so it’s been really helpful to see.”