Only the top 20 rhythmic gymnasts in the nation every year reach level 10, the sport's top classification, and throughout a year of competition all over the country, those few elite gymnasts become a friendly bunch. But when the actual competition nears, the mood in the warmup area becomes a lot more serious.
"There are so few people who do this sport, you get to know everyone so well," said Shelly Guy, a top rhythmic gymnast who is a sophomore at Magruder High in Rockville. "I love the other girls and I love hanging out with them. . . . It gets a lot quieter right before the competition, though."
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Magruder's Guy places well at rhythmic gymnasts challenge.
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_____ 2004 Summer Olympics _____
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Many of those friends-slash-competitors were in attendance yesterday on the first day of the Capital Challenge at the University of Maryland's Ritchie Coliseum in College Park. Guy was one of the better performers among level-10 senior athletes (ages 15 and older). Guy had a combined score of 22.9 after competition using a rope and a ball, which placed her fifth; Rachel Cossar of Toronto, who is a member of the Canadian national team, was first among seniors with a mark of 24.65.
The meet includes 177 athletes from around the United States and Canada, including many of the best rhythmic gymnasts in the nation. Five of the eight members of the U.S. junior national team are competing, including the national champion, Rachel Marmer of Los Angeles, and the runner-up, Julie Zetlin, a freshman at Whitman High in Bethesda.
The juniors competed using the rope and the hoop, with Zetlin moving into first place with a combined score of 27.90. Marmer was second at 25.95.
Rhythmic gymnastics involves a floor routine, set to music and using an apparatus -- either a ball, a hoop, a ribbon, a rope or clubs. It pairs artistic presentation with flexibility, strength and hand-eye coordination, making it a sport that is much more of a workout than it might seem on first glance.
The sport is closely related to ballet, which is where Christina Williams, a Holton-Arms junior who was eighth among seniors yesterday, got her start. She now spends about 20 hours a week practicing, on top of her schoolwork at the Bethesda private school.
"I had a coach at Holton-Arms who pulled me aside after [a dance class] and said she thought I'd be good at it," Williams said, "and gradually, I put more and more time into it. I really like the sport; it's a very beautiful sport."
The competition is scheduled to resume today at 8:30 a.m., with level 9 and 10 gymnasts starting at 3 p.m.
