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Big news from New Brunswick, Canada:

It is with great pleasure that the Parent Executive of the Fundy Gymnastics Club announces the addition of Nick and Nancy Blanton.

Nancy will become our new Gym Director. A former gymnast, who represented her home country of Great Britain in many International Competitions; trained as a member of both World Championship and Olympic squads; and was a British Champion on the Asymmetric Bars, Nancy combines great communication and organizational skills, with years of club planning and development.

Nick will serve as our new Head Coach. As a gymnastics coach since 1997, Nick brings a long list of impressive credentials …

read more

Nick’s a clinician and lecturer. I’ve followed his YouTube videos (new link) for years, most recently linking to “head position in gymnastics“.

Welcome to the Great White North.

14.950
6.200
8.75

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

She’s coached by Susan Barrett-Manjak. I’d say Beam is Oakville’s best apparatus, meet-to-meet. Congrats Sue.

(via Oakville Gymnastics Club Women’s Blog)

Via USA Gymnastics’s photos on Facebook.

Christine Lee scored 57.800 AA (PDF) competing only a full twisting Yurchenko. She’s still being careful after a fluke dislocated patella while training double twisting Yurchenko.

Normally she does up to 10 DTYs every practice.

I’m certain she’s planning to upgrade that Vault before London.

Miss Val was there in Seattle with Christine’s parents, proud of her prize UCLA recruit.

At Pacific Rim Gabby was inconsistent training her Amanar Vault.

Photo via Examiner on Facebook.

Here’s another from Grace:

Note that Gabby still got credit for Amanar – 6.5 start. (PDF)

Martha suggested that Gabrielle Douglas’s poor performance was due to her trying a bit too much of her difficulty all at one time. She was “overpressured” Martha said, first by having done so well in New York two weeks ago and then being expected to do it all again here, and Douglas is a gymnast who needs to feel “absolutely secure” in her routines to do them very well.

Martha suggests that dramatic changes (apparently Liang Chow wanted to introduce even more difficulty into her bar routine, giving her a 6.9 D-score, but that was seen as a little too much, so some of the difficulty was taken out at the last minute) suddenly don’t work with Douglas, and that Chow may still be getting to know his athlete and what works for her.

Examiner – Pac Rims: The Martha Karolyi perspective

George reminds that Gabby trained about 10yrs at Excalibur, only about a year at Chows.

She’s a super talent that both clubs have done a terrific job in developing.

JOHN CRUMLISH posted a feature to celebrate – Hard Work, Not Luck, Yields More Irish Success.

Kieran Behan will be competing with a full MAG team at 2012 European Championships in preparation for the London Olympics.

Click PLAY or watch Kieran’s possible new skill on YouTube.

Def on Horizontal Bar + 1/1 twist. Wow.

See more videos on Full Twist

We have school groups in our Gymnastics Club every day. For recreational gymnastics. The number of overweight and obese children is shocking.

Kottke linked to an important Daily Beast article:

Ten years after his seminal book Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser reflects on how little has changed in the production, safety, and consumption in America—but why he’s still hopeful.

Every day about 65 million people eat at a McDonald’s restaurant somewhere in the world, more than ever before. The annual revenues of America’s fast-food industry, adjusted for inflation, have risen by about 20 percent since 2001. …

About two thirds of the adults in the United States are obese or overweight. The obesity rate among preschoolers has doubled in the past 30 years. The rate among children aged 6 to 11 has tripled. And by some odd coincidence, the annual cost of the nation’s obesity epidemic — about $168 billion, as calculated by researchers at Emory University — is the same as the amount of money Americans spent on fast food in 2011. …

Still a Fast-Food Nation: Eric Schlosser Reflects on 10 Years Later

If you’ve never read Fast Food Nation, the Kindle edition is only $3.99.

It’s not easy being an obese child, as 3yr-old Leslie Downes found out in 1935.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

(via Kottke)

Certainly school kids need to exercise more. Eat less. But how’s that going to happen?

I’m not optimistic for the future. 😦

A follow up to yesterday’s handstand post. Many more drills for “line” to consider adding to your program.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. (8min)

From Gymnastics Planet.

Akash will be competing it this weekend. Very cool.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I was sorry to see that Marcel Nguyen did not compete it at American Cup.

(via Stick It Media)

Watch it on Facebook.