U.S. Team prepares for 2007 World Trampoline and Tumbling Championships

QUEBEC City, Quebec, Canada, Oct. 31, 2007—The U.S. World Championships Team for trampoline and tumbling arrived in Quebec City, Quebec, after a weeklong training camp at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, N.Y. The 2007 World Trampoline and Tumbling Championships, the Olympic qualifying event for trampoline, are Nov. 1-4 at the Pavillon de la Jeunesse d’ExpoCité in Quebec City. 

“Our team has been training hard to prepare for this year’s World Championships,” said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics.  “We expect them to represent us well in Quebec City.”

The 2007 World Trampoline and Tumbling Championships feature competition in individual trampoline, tumbling, double-mini trampoline and synchronized trampoline.  It also is the qualifying event for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, and the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.  Based on the results, 13 men and 13 women in trampoline will earn berths for their countries for the Olympic Games.

The members of the trampoline team are: men — Michael Devine of Winnebago, Ill., Chris Estrada of Lafayette, La., Steven Gluckstein of Atlantic Highlands, N.J., Ryan Weston of Chubbuck, Idaho, and Logan Dooley of Lake Forest, Calif. (alternate); and women — Amanda Bailey of Sundown, Texas, Brittany Dircks of Orland Park, Ill., and Alaina Williams of Amarillo, Texas. Competing in synchronized trampoline for the men are the pair of Estrada and Weston and the duo of Dooley and Gluckstein, and Dircks and Williams will compete for the women. Dmitri Poliaroush, national team coordinator, is the head coach of the trampoline team. Brad Davis, Shaun Kempton and Tatiana Kovaleva will serve as assistant coaches.

“Everybody is pushing each other and training really hard,” said Estrada, the 2005-07 U.S. trampoline champion. “The coaches are very motivational, so that’s been great. Everybody’s just been really happy.”