Terrific tumbling
Jon Schwaiger’s trip to Nationals was twice as nice. For the gymnast from Calgary who now trains in Ontario, that’s not the first time that’s happened.
Schwaiger twisted and turned to a field-topping score of 148.900 in the Senior Men’s Tumbling as the last day of the Canadian Championships — Trampoline Gymnastics wound down Sunday afternoon at the Enmax Centre.
That national tumbling title — his seventh in a row — came less than 24 hours after Schwaiger turned in another gold medal performance — this one in the Senior Men’s Double Mini Trampoline — Saturday night.
“I’m feeling really good right now,” said Schwaiger, who now trains at Dynamo Gymnastics in Cambridge, Ontario. “The tumbling would probably be my best Nationals out of the last seven, scoring-wise and consistency wise. I’m happy with that. 2015 was the last time I won both in the same year. I’d like to keep that trend going a little bit.”
As Schwaiger climbed atop the podium yet again, another athlete got their first glimpse of gold as fellow tumbler Zoe Hipel of Ontario placed atop the Senior Women’s Tumbling field with a total of 129.200.
“I’m feeling really excited and happy with how I did,” said the 17year-old from Aurora, Ont. “It’s just very thrilling.”
Anther Ontarian enjoyed a double gold performance as Jason Burnett — the winner of the Senior Men’s Trampoline finals Saturday night — teamed up with Jacob Cranham to win the Senior Men’s Synchro final with a score of 137.860 Sunday.
Quebec’s Sophiane Methot also made a two-championship weekend, teaming up with Sarah Milette to win the Senior Women’s Synchro final with a score of 125.900.
Methot also captured the Senior Women’s Trampoline title Saturday night.
For Schwaiger, not even a foot injury was enough to keep from another tumbling gold as the 26year-old beat out Callum Sundquist of Alberta (129.000) and Michael Zeuner of Ontario (124.100).
“We taped it up pretty good and kept it under control, so I was feeling good with that,” he said.
For Hipel, her first national title was a product of both physical and mental preparation.
“I think that just training and focusing on my path was mainly the key to success,” she said. “Before I go in to train I do a lot of mental training and that really helps me to focus.”
Hipel edged out fellow Ontarian Jordan Sugrim for the tumbling crown.
Sugrim posted a score of 127.900, while Ontario’s Devon Haimes rounded out the top-three with a total of 121.900.
“Competing with Jordan was a lot of fun,” said Hipel. “We train together, too. So that was good. She was very motivating and she was also very enthusiastic and really pushed me to be better.”
In the Senior Men’s Synchro, Cranham credited Burnett for making him raise his game. Literally. “It’s a lot of fun. He’s a veteran. He’s got a lot of experience,” said Cranham. “We were talking about it in training. He’s got a pretty sweet lifting techniques when we’re doing synchro and I have to step my game up and do as well as he does.
“When you’re doing your routine you try to lose as little height as possible. So when you take off and maintain your height, it’s lifting. So when you’re doing synchro it’s really important that you lift the same amount. So when you’re with someone who lifts a lot, you have to lift a lot.”
Competing together for the first time, the duo clicked, allowing Burnett to take dual gold back home.
“I’m feeling really good, everything went according to plan and it was great to be able to do synchro with Jake. We’re a new pair, but we had a pretty successful first time out and I think it’s a pretty natural pairing,” he said.
And there may be more events down the road as a team.
“I think we’re definitely going to take it home, practise a bit more and definitely take it seriously,” said Burnett. “We have some World Cups coming up and the World Championship in the fall, but we have a couple of months to really nail our routines down and do exactly what we want to do and tackle those competitions coming up.”
Synchro is typically the second focus on the trampoline gymnast, said Burnett.
But success in that event can potentially open doors down the road.
“If you’re a solid synchro pair and you start finaling or even medalling at international meets, it gives both partners the exposure to judges and judges start to realize that both people deserve to be rewarded and that can help out in the individual competitions as well,” said Burnett.
Having grown up two hours down the road, Schwaiger enjoyed returning to a southern Alberta environment to compete.
“It’s been great, especially the venue,” he said. “It definitely made it feel like a spectacular event, just being in a lower bowl and superbright lights. It was a fun event to be in.”
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