INDIANAPOLIS, Nov. 4, 2013 – Trampoline and tumbling takes center stage when the 2013 World Trampoline and Tumbling Championships begin Nov. 7 in Sofia, Bulgaria. The World Championships run through Nov. 10, followed by the 2013 World Trampoline and Tumbling Age Group Competition, Nov. 13-17. 
 
2012 Olympian Steven Gluckstein of Atlantic Highlands, N.J./ETA, and two-time World double mini-trampoline silver-medalist Austin White of Newport Coast, Calif./World Elite Gymnastics, headline the 18-athlete U.S. World Trampoline and Tumbling Team. In addition, two men and two women who were members of the 2011 squads that won their respective double-mini team bronze medals are also in the field: women – Erin Jauch of Crystal Lake, Ill./Fox Valley Tumbling and Trampoline, and Kristle Lowell of Three Rivers, Mich./Branch Gymnastics; and men – Ryan Roberts of Ramona, Calif./So Cal TTC, and White.
 
The World Championships’ competition schedule is: Nov. 7 – qualification for men’s and women’s trampoline; Nov. 8 – qualification for men’s and women’s double mini-trampoline, tumbling, and synchronized trampoline, and team finals for men’s and women’s trampoline; Nov. 9 – semifinals and finals for men’s trampoline, and team finals for men’s and women’s double mini-trampoline and tumbling, and finals for women’s synchronized trampoline; and Nov. 10 – semifinals and finals for women’s trampoline, and finals for men’s and women’s double-mini and tumbling, and men’s synchronized trampoline.
 
The USA’s draw for the qualification round for the World Championships is: men’s trampoline, group 1; women’s trampoline, group 2; men’s synchronized trampoline, group 3; women’s synchro, groups 1 and 2; men’s tumbling, group 4; women’s tumbling, group 3; men’s double-mini, group 1; and women’s double mini, group 1.
 
The members of the U.S. Team, by event, are listed below.
 
2013 World Championships
Trampoline
Men
Logan Dooley, Lake Forest, Calif./World Elite Gymnastics
Jeffrey Gluckstein, Atlantic Highlands, N.J./ETA
Steven Gluckstein, Atlantic Highlands, N.J./ETA
Alexi Shostak, Lafayette, La./Trampoline and Tumbling Express
Alternate: Neil Gulati, Irvine, Calif./World Elite Gymnastics
Women
Hayley Butcher, St. John, Ind./Midwest Training and Ice Center
Charlotte Drury, Laguna Niguel, Calif./World Elite Gymnastics
Shaylee Dunavin, Amarillo, Texas/All-American
Deana Parris, Burtonsville, Md./Fairland Gymnastics
 
Tumbling
Men
Austin Nacey, Braidwood, Ill./TwistStars Tumbling and Trampoline LTD.
Alex Renkert, Indianapolis, Ind./Geist Sports Academy
Garret Waterstradt, Paxton, Ill./Irish’s Gymnastics
Women
Yuliya Stankevich-Brown, Idaho Falls, Idaho/Idaho Elite Gymnastics
 
Double mini-trampoline
Men
Austin Nacey, Braidwood, Ill./TwistStars Tumbling and Trampoline LTD.
Alex Renkert, Indianapolis, Ind./Geist Sports Academy
Ryan Roberts, Ramona, Calif./So Cal TTC
Austin White, Newport Coast, Calif./World Elite Gymnastics
Alternate: Garret Waterstradt, Paxton, Ill./Irish’s Gymnastics
Women
Shelby Gill, Ladera Ranch, Calif./Air Sports Unlimited
Erin Jauch, Crystal Lake, Ill./Fox Valley Tumbling and Trampoline
Kristle Lowell, Three Rivers, Mich./Branch Gymnastics
Tristan Van Natta, Pendleton, Ind./Geist Sports Academy
 
USA Gymnastics will have coverage, photos and videos from Sofia on its website, usagym.org, and Facebook and YouTube channels. For more information about the event, click here.
 
Trampoline events involve athletes using trampolines that can propel them up to 30 feet in the air, during which they can perform double and triple twisting somersaults. Tumbling utilizes elevated rod-floor runways that enable athletes to jump at heights more than 10 feet and execute a variety of acrobatic maneuvers. For the double-mini competition, the athlete makes a short run, leaps onto a small two-level trampoline, performs an aerial maneuver and dismounts onto a landing mat. Trampoline was added to the Olympic Games in 2000, and at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, the USA had its first athlete in history advance to the finals.