Marisa Dick is flipping out over the upcoming Canada Winter Games.
“I’m really excited. It’s going to be an amazing experience because it’s kind of like a mini Olympics,” said the 13-year-old St. Albert gymnast.
The games start Feb. 11 in Halifax, N.S.
“It’s going to be fun. I can’t wait,” said Dick.
The Capital City Gymnastics Club member finished second overall out of seven qualifiers in the Alberta trials and is the second youngest on the team.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God! I can’t believe I actually did it!’”
Capital City teammates Samantha Ward and Brielle Wilchuk also qualified for the games.
During the past year Dick worked diligently in hopes of representing her province at Canada’s largest multi-sport competition for young athletes.
“I trained not necessarily harder, just more efficient.”
The Grade 8 student at Sir George Simpson School will compete in bars, beam, floor and vault.
“I hope to make finals in beam and floor and maybe vault.”
Dick traditionally scores top marks in beam and floor.
“My beam is just really solid with the skills I do,” she said. “We practice our routines a lot so I just do them how I do them in training.”
Floor is her favourite event.
“I like it because you get to let out everything. You don’t have to hold back.”
Bars, however, is a tough nut for Dick to crack.
“I usually fall,” she said. “I’m improving though. I’ve got a good release move now.”
Dick trains 27 hours a week, including twice on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Sunday is her day of rest.
“Gymnastics is just really fun. It’s a good way to let out all your energy,” she said. “I like the adrenaline rush and I like to learn new skills.”
Dick recently earned junior high performance status in the national stream by placing seventh all-around at Elite Canada last month in Gatineau, Que. It was her first major junior meet.
“It felt good just to know that I can actually compete with these girls.”
Last year in the national novice age category, Dick achieved first all-around at Gymix in Montreal, Wild Rose International in Edmonton and at the trials to Canadians. She also placed second all-around at provincials in St. Albert and nationals.
The jump from novice to junior hasn’t been that tall of a hurdle for Dick to clear.
“It’s not too bad,” she said. “You either go national stream or high performance stream and in junior high performance we’re all around the same age and we do most of the same skills.”
