perfect 10

I hadn’t heard of Tasha Smith until earlier this year.  She’s a gymnast in her junior year at Oregon State University and she has got some spunk.

She choreographs her own Floor routines and they are really something else.  She’s got her own style and it’s different from the other NCAA floor routines out there.  It’s refreshing and fun to watch.   I mean, seriously, the girl plays the air guitar after her first pass…

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Last Saturday the University of Washington played host to the Utah Utes in a dual meet and once again, my husband and I were there to catch the action. Here are my impressions of the competition, focusing mainly on Utah since I’ve blogged about UW in a previous post.

Utah…

• It was wonderful to see Gael Mackie (Canada) compete for Utah on Bars. I have always wanted to see more of this gymnast and she did not disappoint. Her set was clean and confidant. I’m looking forward to seeing more of her.
• Also impressive on Bars (and elsewhere) was Daria Bijak. I don’t remember being all that impressed with her performances as an international elite for Germany but she certainly seems to be thriving on the collegiate level. She may not be as well known as teammates, Ashley Postell & Kristina Baskett, but she is an incredible asset to the Utes. They are lucky to have her.

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My husband and four of our friends joined me last night to take in the UW vs UCLA meet at the Bank of America Arena on the University of Washington campus. We had some pho beforehand and then headed on over to catch the action. Here are the top ten things that stood out to me from the competition.

1. Tasha Schwikert is just so fun to watch. There are really very few gymnasts like her. She has a presence on every event that is unmatched. On Floor she looks so comfortable and at ease engaging and making eye contact with the audience. Many collegiate gymnasts are good at selling their routines but Tasha Schwikert is in a class of her very own.
2. A gymnast from UW (I unfortunately don’t recall her name right now) rocked a tucked double twisting back gainer off the side of the Beam. I don’t think I’ve seen one from a standstill before. My friends, Allise & Sage, who are not knowledgeable about gymnastics were particularly impressed with it. They referred to it as “the corkscrew.” While numerous collegiate gymnasts dismount with the laid out full-twisting gainer for a dismount, it was great to see something a little different.

   

3. Anna Li of UCLA. Her work on Bars and Floor were outstanding. She has a sky high tkatchev and nailed her double layout dismount. On Floor, her choreography and music selection were delightful.
4. Ashley Houghting performed a full-twisting pike jump on Beam that was beautiful. Houghting was the only UW gymnast to break into the top three on any event, taking second on both Vault & Floor.
5. Niki Tom of UCLA performed a gorgeous full turn with her leg extended behind her in a raised stag position (think Lindsey Vanden Eykel). And she also performed an extremely high round-off double twist dismount.
6. Another unnamed UW gymnast performed a beautiful jump double stag mount onto the end of the beam. It was exquisite. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. These are the kinds of mounts we need to see more of on the elite level. Rather than a tuck jump onto the Beam, why not a double stag? It’s not much more difficult but it is infinitely more aesthetic and artistic.
7. Raimey Iselin of UW performed a round off full twist to prone on Floor. It was spectacular. Although I know some gymnastics enthusiasts are not fond of these skills, there certainly have crowd appeal. This one in particular was breathtaking. My friends loved it.
8. Brittani McCullough of UCLA, who was strong and steady on all four events delivered a HUGE double back dismount off Beam. It’s nice to see a more difficult dismount amid the sea of front fulls, back fulls & gainer fulls. I’m looking forward to seeing more of McCullough. She shows tremendous promise in her first season (she redshirted last year).
9. I was disappointed that Ariana Berlin was not part of UCLA’s line up on Floor. She is an incredible breakdancer and I always look forward to seeing her perform. Maybe at the Pac 10s.
10. It was great to be at a competition where my non-gymnastics friends could understand and thoroughly enjoy the meet. This is one of the major reasons why NCAA gymnastics has such a strong fan base of “non-gymnastics” folks. I sure hope it stays that way.

I’m curious to hear what other folks thought of the meet. Were any of you there? What were your impressions? And if anyone knows the names of the two UW gymnasts mentioned above (numbers 2 & 6), please let me know.

I recently realized that I get a fuzzy version of ESPN2 and some station called FSN (Fox Sports?), which is not actually included in my basic cable package. And I was delighted to learn that these 2 channels regularly air NCAA gymnastics meets. It’s been great watching some of the meets I would never see otherwise.

But I am even more excited about the meet at the University of Washington this weekend. I get very few opportunities to see live competitions so I’ll be hitting up all of the UW home meets this season. In addition to UCLA this weekend, they will be competing against Utah at home in a couple weeks, and at the end of March, they will play host to the Pac 10 championships, which will be a real treat. Will any of you local readers be in the stands at the Bank of America Arena as well?

One of the greatest gymnasts of the 1970s. Tourischeva was the All Around Gold Medalist at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.

Earlier today I read a post on The Olympic Effect, a new blog covering gymnastics & figure skating. It was an extensive look at the media coverage that surrounded both Vanessa Atler & Kristie Phillips. One could argue that the media played a large part in the downfall of both athletes. If you are not familiar with their stories, check out the post on The Olympic Effect. It gives a summary for each.

While I am not as familiar with the rise and fall of Phillips (too young), I was an avid fan of Vanessa Atler. I believe she was one of the greatest gymnasts of all time. Many factors played a part in her troubled time at the top of the sport. It would be impossible to place the blame on one party. Parents, Coaches, USAG & Media all play crucial roles in the life of a young athlete in the United States. But after reading the post on The Olympic Effect I was particularly troubled by a statement made by a member of the media regarding the coverage of athletes.

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I’ve been without much access to a computer these last few weeks so when I finally got back online today I, of course, immediately hit up youtube for a much-needed gymnastics fix. Sure, I’ve still been watching my VHS tapes regularly but there is something so unique about youtube. Where else could you find some videos of, say, an obscure Mongolian gymnast circa 1978?

Seriously, though, it has been thrilling for me to be able to see more than just the televised coverage in the US (at best, The American Cup, Nationals & maybe Worlds) & more recently, WCSN’s coverage. I can finally see more of the events on the European circuit and all over the world, not to mention the scores of videos from years past. A sincere thanks to all of you who faithfully post your videos onto youtube. It is much appreciated.

Ok, moving on… I now present the fruit of my youtube perusal for the night. 3 Crazy Beam Mounts.

1. Isabela Lacatus of Romania in1990. Never even heard of her before tonight. This one actually looks like it had the potential to be quite painful. Basically a staddle front flip off the board to her seat. Slightly off and she could have seriously injured her tailbone.

2. Daiane Dos Santos of Brazil. The quality of the video is quite poor and she falls. But it’s a layout front! Has anyone else ever attempted this?

3. Kelly Garrison-Steves of the US in 1988. Round-off, full twisting back. Awesome.

We’re only 2 weeks into 2008 but I’ve already found the best floor routine of the year, hands down. Thanks to kradunzel I found this video of Tabitha Yim from last Saturday’s Stanford vs. Georgia meet. The presentation is exquisite. The sequence following her second tumbling pass is gorgeous and precisely timed. It gave me chills. I wish we saw more of this at the elite level. It is thrilling. Yim is in a class of her own. Outstanding.

My only question is the ending pose. I can’t decide how I feel about it. It seems somewhat out of sync with the rest of her choreography. My husband loves it but he’s not known for his taste in final floor poses. What do you think? Love it or hate it?

I am spending a few days in Canada for a mini vacation but couldn’t resist bringing the laptop so I could write an end of the year post. I decided to write about the top ten things I think should have happened in 2007 but didn’t. As usual I am focused on the women’s side of the sport. It would be great to hear what you think should be on the men’s list.

Just to clarify…by “should have” I do not mean deserved.  I just mean things that I wish had happened but for one reason or another did not.  In no particular order…

1. Hollie Dykes should have made more of a world impact. I was expecting to see her in the hunt for several medals in Stuttgart but she was nowhere to be found.

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Update: All the tapes listed are now gone. 

I decided that it is time to clean out some of my gymnastics VHS collection. I thought that before I recycled these tapes, I would list them here in case anyone is interested in them. If you would like one (or multiple), let me know. The tapes are free. You can paypal me a flat rate for shipping and I’ll mail them to you.

All the tapes were recorded from television over the years and there are no guarantees on the quality, etc. Let me know if you have any questions regarding a particular tape. Most are women unless otherwise noted. American Cups have both men and women. (more…)