Gymnastics Coaching.com

Here’s a record that will never be broken:

Could there possibly have been more going on at Senior Night for the Michigan men’s gymnastics team? I tend to doubt it.

Before the meet, the team honored former coach Newt Loken for 60 years of perfect attendance at home meets. Coach Loken was completely surprised–although everyone else had known about it for weeks. His wife, Dottie (who he calls “a gem”) came with him, along with his usual companion, Bob Willoughby. Willoughby, a gymnast on one of Loken’s first teams, regularly drives the coach to and from the meets. In front of both the Michigan and Ohio State lineups, Willoughby presented Loken with a plaque honoring him as the “ultimate superfan.” All the Michigan gymnasts bowed as if they were being knighted, down on one knee with a hand over the heart. Even Ohio State head coach Miles Avery came over to shake Loken’s hand. And the entire crowd gave him a standing ovation. …

Michigan Daily

Loken was NCAA all-around gymnastics champion in 1942. That’s so long ago that he was also NCAA champion on the now defunct apparatus called Flying Rings.

He coached University of Michigan gymnastics team for 36 years from 1948-1983. Loken’s gymnasts won the NCAA championships in 1963 and 1970, as well as 12 Big Ten championships. His record as Michigan’s gymnastics coach was 250-72-1. Loken also coached the Michigan trampolining team to NCAA championships in 1969 and 1970.

He was also an All American Cheerleader and on the diving team.

Newt Loken Gymnastics Training Center – more photos

He published a number of books (now out of print) including:

Cheerleading

Advanced Tumbling

Gymnastics for Girls and Women: Instructor’s Guide

Congratulations Newt. You are an inspiration to all us “young” coaches.

From CrossFit Jersey Shore.

Click PLAY or watch a great general conditioning drill on YouTube.

Have you seen clap chin-ups without swing? If so, leave a comment.

(via healyfreely on Gym Chat)

An inspiring video profile of the US National Champion on the AT&T Blue Room.

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To watch it, click David Durante Profile.

Can you beat 42sec with your legs together?

Click PLAY or watch Dominic Lacasse on YouTube.

(via Flip Catch)

Actually, I can find no listing on the Guinness world records website for “human flag”.

Leave a comment if you can confirm what it is at present.

UPDATE: Here’s a certificate from Guinness posted for the OLD record. It’s on Dominic’s website.

Thanks Leif.

Related post: Dominic Lacasse strength and acrobatic videos

by Rick McCharles

Normally I do not post acrobatics done on motor vehicles. Those are just too dangerous.

Many of the stunts done by Travis Pastrana are way over the line.

His “life story” will be released in American theaters nationwide on April 16-17th.

Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube.

If you admire Travis, you’ll want to see it. If not, you’ll want to decry the documentary.

I shudder to think how many young people will be hurt and killed emulating him.

Olympic Floor Champion Kyle Shewfelt was injured at Worlds 2007 and is making a comeback for Beijing.

Diego Hypolito then won Worlds. And now he will be doing the same thing as Kyle. Coming back after injury.

Yeesh!

World champion gymnast Diego Hypolito from Brazil has to undergo knee surgery.

The operation is a right-knee arthroscopy which will put him out of action for four weeks.

“We don’t know exactly when the injury happened,” his coach Renato Araujo said. “He began feeling the pain last Friday and medical exams showed the surgery was necessary.”

“Obviously it will be a problem,” Araujo said. “He will have to miss training sessions, and practice time is always important. He will have to overcome this.” …

Beijing Olympic Games blog

photo original – flickr

On the bright side for Brazil, 25-year-old Daiane dos Santos is healthy and making a run at the Olympics. She was 2006 World Cup Finals gold medalist on Floor.

If you, like me, have been confused about the controversy regarding Olympic selection, read closely the best article posted to date. From Inside Gymnastics:

… The wild card announcement confirms that three silver medalists from Stuttgart–Aljaz Pegan (high bar, Slovenia), Yuri Van Gelder (rings, Netherlands) and Krisztian Berki (pommel horse, Hungary)–will not be in Beijing. Pegan, the 2005 high bar world champ, has never made it to a Games, despite more than a decade as a superstar on his best event.

…

All told, 11 men, all of whom were/are either event finalists at the 2007 World Championships or currently ranked in the top ten of the World Cup standings (as of 2/15/08), will NOT be in Beijing. That number includes three former world champions, four 2007 world medalists and one defending Athens medalist. That’s almost a dozen legitimate medal threats shut out of what is supposed to be the sport’s preeminent event.

In addition to Pegan, Van Gelder and Berki, also MIA in Beijing will be…

Regulo Carmon (Venezuela): Fifth on rings in Stuttgart and currently ranked 2nd in the World Cup standings.

Vlasios Maras (Greece): The 2001 World Champ and silver medalist in 2006, he’s currently ranked 2nd in the World Cup standings and was a finalist in Stuttgart.

Ri Se Gwang (North Korea): The bronze medalist on vault in Stuttgart.

Ri Jong Song (North Korea): Fourth on vault in Stuttgart.

Philippe Rizzo (Australia): Currently ranked fourth in the high bar World Cup standings.

Yevgeny Sapronenko (Latvia): The current Olympic silver medalist on vault and 3rd in the current World Cup rankings.

Robert Seligman (Croatia): Currently ranked 6th on horse in the World Cup standings.

Jeffery Wammes (Netherlands): Stuttgart high bar finalist, currently ranked 4th on vault and 9th on floor in the World Cup standings.

Yernar Yerimbetov (Kazakhstan): Eighth on vault in the current World Cup standings.

Filip Yanev (Bulgaria): Tenth on vault in the current World Cup standings. …

Inside Gymnastics

Not to mention Prashanth Sellathurai (Australia) who everyone knows could win an Olympic medal on Pommels.

These are potential Olympic finalists. Frustrating the fans in those countries is a mistake. Obviously FIG has to rework the selection criteria for Men. Perhaps only 6 full teams should qualify, instead of the current 12 teams. That would make room for more individual competitors.

Does it make sense to you to leave a superstar like this out of the Olympics? Click PLAY or watch Sapronenko on Vault on YouTube.

UPDATE: See Van Gelder win rings at Doha with 16.650 – YouTube video

It’s not an issue on the Women’s side:

… none of the female event finalists from Stuttgart, nor any women currently ranked in the top ten of the World Cup standings on any event, is shut out of Beijing.

Fact is that far fewer nations are able to train female gymnasts to the Olympic level. The rules are simply too tough.

original – flickr – inspir8tion

more inspir8tion photos tagged with “gymnastics”

Flashback Theater Productions

Kudos to History Channel for posting some of their shows on YouTube. Internet savvy users (like you and I) will see it there and later tune in their channel on TV.

Mixed martials arts is booming, as you know. Here’s a variation I had not heard about.

Hosts Jason Chambers and Bill Duff journey to Moscow to learn Sambo street techniques from some of the toughest dudes in Russia.

The hour long program is posted in 9min blocks starting with Part 1.

The Wordsmith from Nantucket recommended some gymnastics acrobatics and interesting 3D biomechanical analysis shown in Part 3.

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If you love martial arts, check out Part 3 on YouTube.

Dan Bachman, National Technical Vice President, National Gymnastics Judges Association has his name on a document titled “2005-2008 NGJA/USAG Rules Interpretations #13” dated March 21, 2008.

Coaches and Judges of FIG gymnasts should look them over. The American interpretations are often more detailed than in other nations.

The MS Word document can be downloaded from National Gymnastics Judges Assoc., Inc.

No doubt many, many more changes will be announced to start after Beijing.