The Artistic Gymnastics Provincial Championships promise to bring out the very best in Graham Plomp after last year's breakthrough in men's high performance.
"I want to go to nationals again. I have to be completely ready in all my events and I've put a lot of effort into this year to make sure I'm able to do that," said the 2009 provincial champion on floor. "I have to go 100 per cent and more at this competition. I definitely don't want to foul up any events."
Plomp, 16, exceeded expectations after making the jump from level 4 to national youth with less than two months of training for provincials.
"It was definitely surprising but a really nice surprise. I really wasn't expecting to do good. My scores were decent but they weren't that high. I had one good event and the rest of them were pretty low for scores," said the Dynamyx Gymnastics Club member. "I just wanted to see where I placed at that level. I also wanted to see if I should move up or maybe I should stay at a level lower for a little bit."
His previous claim to fame was two years ago at provincials in level 4 when he qualified for westerns.
"Westerns was a huge accomplishment for me but nationals was the top of the cake."
Polished on floor
At nationals Plomp made the finals in floor and finished 13th overall out of 60.
"It was very exciting to say nationally I'm 13th on floor. It was very cool. I never thought I was national material," he said. "I knew going up to national youth I had to upgrade a lot of my routines and some of them weren't quite ready but with floor I thought I would have a good chance. I threw in a couple of new skills and I thought I did really good at the competition. I guess I kind of surprised some of the other people because I just went up a level and I beat them all on floor."
His confidence skyrocketed after nationals.
"I'm doing a lot better than I've ever done before. I'm finding myself climbing the ladder really quickly, especially with Kelly [Baird] as my coach," said the Grade 10 Paul Kane High School student. "When I went to nationals I wasn't competing very well against the rest of my team but now I'm able to beat them."
Plomp placed second all-around at the Capital City meet in Edmonton with a strong showing on rings. He was also sixth overall at the Jurassic Classic in Calgary with a fifth-place result in rings and tied for sixth in vault.
"I've had to learn a lot of new skills because moving up to national youth a lot of my skills for my routines don't count. I didn't have very many for nationals so I've been working this whole year getting all these new skills and mastering them."
On the floor is where Plomp shines.
"I've always loved floor. When I was young I would be tumbling and doing cartwheels everywhere. I very much like twisting and that's worth a fair bit of points," he said. "I like trying to do different things on the floor until I'm comfortable with them. When I see people try something I like, I go back to the gym and learn how to do it. You've got to execute them with good form, otherwise there is no point in doing them."
While training for provincials, Plomp logged extra time perfecting the high bar and pommel.
"On and off I have tough times with the high bar but usually I get consistently high marks when I get all my skills and my routines ready," he said. "Right now I'm kind of liking pommel but it kind of gets on my nerves when I'm training."
Plomp works out four days a week for three hours per session, except for a five-hour shift on Fridays.
"I love everything about my sport; being inverted, swing around the high bar, vaulting, just flying around and twisting. It's thrilling," said the seventh-year gymnast. "There are a lot of things I get excited about on a daily basis, like not only learning new skills but skills I didn't see myself ever doing. When I feel comfortable doing them it's pretty cool."
Hometown edge
Plomp hopes everything goes according to plan next weekend, when the Dynamyx club hosts provincials at Servus Credit Union Place. He is anxious to perform in front of family and friends at home.
"I'm really, really excited since it's here in St. Albert," he said. "I'm always excited going to competitions. You get to show off for the judges, do skills and you find out how good you're doing."
Plomp is shooting for a top four all-around placing that would secure a return trip to nationals.
"I want to be in the top two or three in floor.
"As for pommel, as long as I stay on I might be able to compete very good because a lot of people have trouble staying on, myself included.
"With rings I want to be top five.
"The vault is something I never know. Sometimes I have a really good vault and sometimes I don't.
"I'm not sure about the parallel bars. It's never been my strongest event. Everyone seems to do really well in that one and I just try and keep up. I don't usually place really high but I'm not usually at the bottom.
"With the high bar I'm thinking top five as well."
Plomp will be joined at provincials by Dynmayx male teammates Dylan Bokenfohr, Bryden Poier and Colin Green in level 1, Rykkar Jackson, Isaiah Wong, Korey Matte, Rylin Curial and Zach Farrell in levels 2 and 3 and Adrian Johnson in level 4.
Levels of competition at provincials also range from P2 to P5 for females, plus national and pre-Olympic. Sessions run from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, 9:05 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at Performance Arena.
"There will be people doing flips and twists and lots of really cool stuff," Plomp said.
Day tickets are $10 adult, $5 student/senior and $25 family of four. Meet passes are $20 adult and $40 family of four. Alberta Gymnastic Federation members receive $1 off tickets. Free admission for children five years and under.
The opening ceremonies are Friday at 5:15 p.m.
The event schedule is online at http://www.abgym.ab.ca/programs_pages/wag_registrations/2010ProvincialsSchedule.pdf
