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Halliwell on top at B.C. Championships

Whistler club earns medals, ribbons against top tumblers in the province
1418gymnasts

By Andrew Mitchell

Whistler’s Nicola Halliwell knew she was having a good day at the B.C. Gymnastics Championships, but was shocked to discover that her results — second on bars, third on beam, fourth on vault and 10 th on floor — were good enough to place first all around in the Provincial Level 2 Open category.

Although Halliwell has earned her share of medals in the past, and is regarded as hard working and consistent by her coaches, she said she was surprised to hear her name called at the medal ceremony.

“I kind of new what my scores were, but I definitely wasn’t expecting that,” she said. “I didn’t think I won, I was just trying to do my best.”

Competing mostly in regional competitions, she was interested to see other girls from around the province. “They were different, from a lot of different places, and they were definitely doing some harder skills. That’s why I was so surprised.”

But while some of the other kids had harder tricks, Nicola had consistency on her side. Girls winning the gold in one event were finding themselves in the teens in others.

Whistler has always been an underdog in gymnastics. Because the club doesn’t have a full-time facility yet, with coaches setting up and taking down equipment four nights a week, gymnasts have fewer days available to train, and fewer hours of training. They also don’t have a full-size spring floor to train on their floor exercises, or equipment like tumble tracks and foam pits to safely develop their skills.

Nicola’s father Dave Halliwell is heading up Whistler Gymnastics facility committee, and says things are progressing at the athletes’ village site. It will be 6,000 square feet in size, with a full spring floor, tumble track, foam pits, and space for trampoline training. The Resort Municipality of Whistler has budgeted $2 million for the project, while the club will be fundraising and applying for grants to equip the gym.

“The governance model is still being worked out, but it is our intention to run the (gymnastics) club as an independent entity in that building,” he said.

Dave believes that a full time facility will make it possible for other girls to win provincial championships in the future. “I think when people can do the work they can get the results, and this will let people do more work more effectively to get those results.”

As for his own daughter’s accomplishments in Kamloops, he couldn’t be happier.

“I’m obviously an incredibly proud father,” he said. “It’s a tribute to her dedication and hard work. The credit goes to Nicola and her coaches.”

Head competitive coach Karin Jarratt, who has worked with Nicola for several years, said the recognition was due.

“I couldn’t be more proud of her,” she said. “She is one of those kids who isn’t always an obvious standout, but she works so hard it was due to happen eventually. The kind of dedication she has had doesn’t go unrewarded.

“I don’t think we ever expect Whistler kids to stand out because of our lack of training time and lack of equipment, but they keep surprising us. (Nicola) has always been there to support everyone else in the club, and it was a happy ending for someone who really deserves it.”

Jarratt says the new facility and examples like Nicola will have a huge impact on gymnasts.

“We’ll have a full floor and a foam pit, and a chance to elevate what the kids already have in their hearts,” she said. “They want to do well, they want to do big tricks, but it’s not something we can train safely in our environment.”

Halliwell, 14, has been in gymnastics for eight years now, but has not decided if she will continue competitive gymnastics next year. Her main focus is her last two competitions of the year, this weekend in Delta, and at the end of the season in Kelowna.

There were a total of 23 gymnasts in Halliwell’s category, including representatives from some of the top clubs in the province.

Whistler’s other participants also succeeded in winning medals and ribbons, and placing in the top-10.

In Provincial Level 2 Novice, Lenka Prochazka finished seventh all around after winning the bronze medal on the bars, and placing sixth on the vault. There were 37 girls in her category.

Desirae Smith placed eighth on beam in the same category, while Jasmin Budge was 13 th on beam and Meg Halliwell was 13 th on bars.

Hannah Raffler was the only Whistler girl in Provincial Level 2 Tyro, placing 23 rd on beam out of 44 participants.

Tyece Fairweather was first out of two athletes in the Provincial Level 2 Novice Alternates category with three out of four of the gold medals. As well, Sonya D’Artois competed alone in the Provincial Level 2 Open Alternates category, but with a score that would have placed her 18 th in the Open group.

This was the first year that Provincial Level 2 gymnasts have been included in the B.C. Gymnastics Championships, giving smaller clubs and recreational athletes across the province an opportunity to compete alongside the best of the best. As a result of the expanded program, Whistler Gymnastics was able to qualify eight girls at the regional championships to represent Zone 5 in Kamloops this past weekend.