After two years as the number one gymnast in Canada's "Open" division, Carrina Lo Bello was ready for a bigger challenge.
"Don't get me wrong -- I enjoyed winning," Lo Bello, 17, said of her past successes in the Open (level 10) category, including the 2008 and 2009 Canadian all-around titles. "However, I wanted to give myself a challenge and see how I would do in senior [elite]."
She's done quite well. In her first national meet as a "High Performance" senior -- the highest level in Canadian gymnastics -- last month, Lo Bello finished eighth all-around and eighth on uneven bars.
Although those performances were not enough to assure her a place on the Canadian national team, Lo Bello, who is coached by 1980 Olympic champion Yelena Davydova and Valery Yahchybekov at Ontario's Gemini Gymnastics and trains alongside Canadian all-around champion Kristina Vaculik, is planning to keep competing as a High Performance senior while she works to attain another goal: securing an NCAA scholarship.
"I want to continue to give myself a challenge," she said.
In this interview with Examiner.com, the graceful Lo Bello talks about expectations in the senior High Performance level, what she listens to before meets and how she draws inspiration from gymnasts both older and younger than herself.
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Examiner.com: Let's go back to the beginning. How did you get started in gymnastics?
Carrina Lo Bello: "I got started in gymnastics when I was about two years old. My mom said I was a very active child and the day she found me climbing the outside railing of our staircase she decided gymnastics was her best bet."
Examiner.com: Did you have different expectations about the Canadian Championships because you were competing in the high performance division?
C.L.B.: "In the High Performance division my expectations were a little different than in Open. I did not expect to win or even come top three, but I did however put it upon myself to at least come top 10. The pressure was only a little higher than it had been in Open; I just felt I needed to be a bit extra focused when it came to competition time."
Examiner.com: Did your eighth place finish at Canadian Nationals qualify you to the senior national team?
C.L.B.: "Unfortunately no, I am not on the national team. Your results at Nationals are not a determining factor whether you get on the team or not."
Examiner.com: One thing I recall noticing about you at Canadian nationals was your presence and dance. Is that something you work especially hard on in the gym?
C.L.B.: "My coach is very hard on us about our dance and how we present ourselves on the competition floor. [laughs] I am always told that I do not dance when I'm training."
Examiner.com: Do you feel nervous before competitions? Do you have any pre-meet rituals?
C.L.B.: "Before a competition I do not feel nervous; however, when I arrive there I do have butterflies. I don't really have any pre-competition rituals except for visualing my routines and listening to a few select songs on my iPod."
Examiner.com: What songs do you listen to?
C.L.B.: "I have quite a few songs that I listen to. About 20 or so -- however, my top three songs are: 'Pursuit of Happiness' by Kid Cudi, 'Young Forever' by Jay-Z, and 'Dynamite' by Taio Cruz."
Examiner.com: What are your goals in gymnastics?
C.L.B.: "One of my goals in gymnastics I already achieved, and that was to go senior high performance. My other goal is to recieve an NCAA scholarship to somewhere in the States."
Examiner.com: Are you looking at any schools in particular?
C.L.B.: "I haven't really made up my mind what schools I'm really interested in."
Examiner.com: What's your favorite event? Least favorite?
C.L.B.: "To be honest, I dont really have a favorite event. There are just certain days I like one event more than the other. If I had to pick an event I liked the least it would have to be bars. However, that only applies to training. I love competing bars, just not training it."
A blind-Jaeger combo on bars:
Examiner.com: Do you attend regular school?
C.L.B.: "I attend a regular high school. I am just exempt from afternoon classes because of training schedules. My schedule does leave me with some time to relax and have fun with my friends. I train in the morning with my group which leaves me all of Saturday night and Sunday to do as I please."
Examiner.com: Are there any new skills you're training that we can expect to see you debut soon?
C.L.B.: "I am working on some new skills that I havent yet done in competition. By September I am planning on competing with full in on floor, and Yurchenko full twist on vault, and a two and a half twist dismount on beam."
Lo Bello works a double layout on floor in the gym:
Examiner.com: Who do you admire in gymnastics? Is there anyone you look up to?
C.L.B.: "An older gymnast that I admire would be Kristina Vaculik. I train with her at my gym and I get to see and understand first hand from a champion that there is more to gymnastics then tight hair and shiny medals. I see the struggles she can go through on certain days and I see how she always picks herself back up and goes for it again. I admire her as a gymnast and as my friend.
"I do also admire the younger gymnasts though. They inspire me to do better for myself. I see them watching me and I feel proud to be an older good role model. When I see them learn new skills that I was once learning, I remember the joy of having an older athlete come up to me and tell me good job. The young gymnasts are a real inspiration."
Examiner.com: What advice would you give to young gymnasts?
C.L.B.: "Gymnastics is a sport that not only requires for you to put your body and mind into it, you also need to make sure your heart's in it to throughly enjoy the sport."
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