… The success started early. Regardless if it was a win or loss, the Tigers steadily improved their team score every week for the first six meets of the season. At the first home meet of the season, they posted a 197.075 to top SEC rival Arkansas. They kept that momentum going and just missed beating LSU by the narrowest of margins a few weeks later …
Prior to this season, Auburn gymnastics had only broke 197 four times in program history. This season alone they have posted scores in the 197’s five times and still have the post-season to increase that number. (Fun fact: Auburn is hosting one of the regional championships this year and if they place in the top two, they will qualify a team to the NCAA Championships for the first time in 12 years!)
The Tigers biggest victory so far this season came when they broke the school record with a score of 197.750 at home versus Georgia. Not to mention, they did it in front of a sold out crowd of 7,424 fans. …
There are too many dives to choose from when it comes to finding a Top 10 – the ones we choose are just a few amazing examples of technical skill and the thrill of watching an athlete nail it. …
1. Matthew Mitcham making the highest diving score in Olympic history: Mitcham has several extremely high scores to his name but this one takes the cake.
2. Laura Wilkinson’s 307c at the 2008 Olympic Diving Trials: Needing to bounce back from a less-than-perfect dive, Wilkinson earned incredibly high scores for this super smooth dive.
3. Greg Louganis’ Comeback at 1988 Olympics: we can’t pick a favorite dive, can you? Louganis needed to recover from lost points as well as a head injury and performed several springboard dives so clean that he won gold, a moment still referenced today as an amazing piece of Olympic history.
4. Yang Jian earning the world record for highest score for one dive: Jang’s outstanding performance of this difficult dive brings the crowd to its feet.
5. Bo Qiu’s 4th dive in the London 2012 Semi-Finals: another example of one of the highest scores in history!
6. Tom Daley at Commonwealth Games Delhi 2010: Daley is another athlete with many great dives to his name, this is just one example.
7. Wu Minxia wins gold in the 3M springboard at London 2012 Olympics: Wu Minxia is the first woman to win a gold medal in diving in three consecutive Olympic Games – you can see why here.
8. David Boudia’s 10M platform at London 2012 Olympics: it’s hard to choose a favorite dive by Boudia, but this was the first Team USA gold on the event since Greg Louganis’ in 1988.
9. Pat McCormick nails her final dive to take home gold in 1956: McCormick made a name for herself by executing dives that were banned for female divers as well as other rebellious moves, so her wins weren’t just great dives but also groundbreaking for the sport.
10. Greece’s Nikolaos Siranidis and Thomas Bimis win gold for the host nation in the 2004 Athens Olympics: this team’s performance earned them the gold in their home town. That’s got to be a great feeling and it’s great to watch, too.
– Hayley Wolfcale on behalf of Speedo
If you want to see the rest of those dives, open the Word document below. Click on the links.
BATON ROUGE – The LSU baseball team is No. 1 in the nation, and the men’s basketball team expects to receive its first NCAA Tournament bid in six years Sunday afternoon.
But neither is drawing as many fans as the No. 3-ranked LSU gymnastics team (13-1, 7-0 Southeastern Conference) drew in its final two home meets of the season.
LSU gymnastics, which was drawing just a few thousand only a decade ago and a few hundred in the beginning, broke its attendance record when a whopping 13,179 showed for a victory over No. 16 Minnesota on March 6 in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in the Tigers’ home finale. And that was actual attendance – not tickets sold. …
Fact is the USA J.O. system leading to the women’s NCAA competitive structure is the best marketed in the world. It amazes me that other competitive gymnastics leagues have never come close to what the top Collegiate marketing departments have accomplished.
1. Dealing with difficult people
2. Doing a job under pressure.
3. Sticking with a hard task.
4. Ignoring Doubters.
5. Understanding the Boss (i.e. Coach)
…
… sell-out crowds have become part of the program’s recipe for success, serving as a recruiting tool for Marsden and his coaching staff, which includes his wife Megan, herself a former national champion at Utah.
… With my disability, you can’t see it. It’s invisible. Unless I’ve collapsed on the floor or fighting for breath, I look like any other gymnast. …
Gymnastics Coaching.com 