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Sidwell Friends' Lynch Pommels the Competition

By Todd Wilkinson
Special to The Washington Post
July 6, 1989

Jair Lynch has broken both wrists, an ankle, a hand, a finger and an arm.

Who said gymnastics isn't a contact sport?

"I'm just kind of plagued with it," the recent Sidwell Friends graduate said of his injuries. "I go all out, and sometimes, I go a little too far and break something."

Lynch has broken things other than bones -- like gymanstics records.

Last year Lynch, 17, compiled the highest overall score ever at the Junior Olympics national championships in Albuquerque. He won the U.S. pommel horse championship in 1987 and is ranked No. 4 among junior competitors by the U.S. Gymnatics Federation behind Brad Hayashi, Mike Masucci, and Mihai Begiu.

"Many people think the pommel horse is the most difficult event," Lynch said. "It's really easy to fall {if just} one hand is placed wrong."

Rick Tucker, Lynch's coach for the past four years, said Lynch's intensity has been a key to his success.

"He's not the kind of guy that holds back a lot," Tucker said. "He's always ready to keep on moving forward."

U.S. Gymnastics Federation men's program director Robert Cowan has noticed Lynch's confidence when he performs.

"The fact that he's done so well in such a short period speaks very highly for him," Cowan said. "His body line is extremely tight. He has a very nice appearance when he does the sport. That should be the norm, but it's really the exception."

Lynch has competed and trained at the Gymnastics Plus club in Columbia for the past four years and will attend Stanford in the fall on a full gymnastics scholarship. He was offered scholarships by Ohio State, Brigham Young, UCLA, Illinois, Iowa, Penn State, Navy and Nebraska.

The sport has given Lynch the opportunity to compete in Spain and, more recently, in Paris at the College Competition meet. This month he is scheduled to compete in the Olympics Sports Festival in Oklahoma.

"I didn't win anything in Paris. Our senior team couldn't beat most of those guys," he said. "I may not win {in Oklahoma}, but I'm going to turn some heads."

Lynch has been involved with gymnastics since age 8, but few high schools in the District offer gymnastics programs so he joined private clubs to develop his skills. His fascination with the sport encouraged him to continually strive to reach higher levels, and get others involved.

"I really helped {gymnastics interest grow}," he said. "A lot of people have told me I could do well in this sport and a lot of people have pushed me, but I helped it too."

Lynch's career began by accident -- literally.

When he was 8, he was competing in swimming and diving at a YMCA. One day he hit the diving board coming down and decided to switch to gymnastics.

"It was similar," he said, comparing the physical aspects of diving and those required in gymnastics.

Gymnastics is the only sport Lynch competes in, but it does not consume him around the clock. Basketball is a major outlet for his remaining energy and he plays "all the time."

On his 18th birthday on Oct. 21, Lynch will move up to the seniors level of the U.S. Gymnastics Federation. He has been working dilligently to prepare for the change.

He practices three hours each day, five days a week. Since receiving his driver's license, he has been able to liberate his father from the 30-minute drive from their Northwest Washington home to the practice facility in Columbia.

The ride is the only part of the training regimen that can tire Lynch. Practicing is made easier, he said, by the complexities of his sport.

"You can learn things every day," he said. "When you're not in competitions, you can learn any trick you want, or make up your own tricks."

Practice for Lynch starts at 5:30 p.m. with a warm-up session. At 6, his small group of 12 gymnasts, ages 14-17, works on strength training. The final two hours of practice is devoted to working on three events.

The events in gymnastics are floor exercise, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bars. Lynch's best -- the pommel horse -- is also his favorite, although he ranks the floor exercise a close second.

"He's made such vast improvments on each event that it is hard to tell which is his best," Tucker said.

Lynch does not need to be told which event he will have to work hardest on in the near future. "Rings are my worst event," he said.

Lynch's ultimate goal is to make the senior national team within the next three years and earn a place on the Olympic team. He likes to set goals because the pressure drives him to higher levels.

"Competing is a lot of fun," he said. "The concentration is very high; the intensity is very high. I like the pressure."

According to Tucker, Lynch may have the potential to be an Olympian.

"He's the only gymnast I have that has got an average chance," Tucker said.

At Stanford, Lynch said he would like to pursue pre-med courses in the hopes of becoming an orthopedic surgeon.

"Maybe," he said explaining that choice, "it is because I broke so many things."