By MARK VAGELAKOS
Stepping onto the cold mat, he runs through the routine in his mind, playing it over and over like a broken record. To calm himself, he says a short prayer, “please let me get through this.” After a quick salute to the judges, he starts the most important routine of his life.
Senior Nicholas Casler was one of four American junior elite gymnasts in his 17-18 age group who competed for the United States at the World Trials.
Casler placed 14th of 27 boys in the 2011 Worlds Competition, on Nov. 27, 2011, in Birmingham, England. After years of training, Casler says he was still anxious about the competition.
“No one standing at the end of the mat saluting the judges isn’t nervous. No matter how much you prepare and practice you’ll always be nervous because it’s the most important competition of your life,” Casler said.
Casler’s event is tumbling, where contestants perform a series of eight tricks, or “passes” down a mat suspended by fiberglass rods.
In order to prepare for the Worlds Competition, Casler had to practice four to five times a week in “intense” three hour sessions at the Reflex Gym.
“It was hard managing my time. There were times I just didn’t want to do my school work or didn’t want to go to practice. It was really physically demanding because it was a lot of training and discipline,” Casler said.
In addition to the packed training schedule, Casler is in three Advanced Placement classes, and maintains that school comes before gymnastics.
“I’ve always put school before gymnastics. A lot of people say you have to sacrifice things to be good, but you really don’t have to sacrifice your school life to be the best,” Casler said.
This attitude is not typical with elite athletes, according to Casler.
“I have friends that don’t go to school or have less [school] days [so that they can] practice more. People at my level have less balance, but I need that balance,” Casler said.
Casler attributes some of his success to the support he gets from his family. When Casler’s siblings cannot attend private competitions, they watched him via livestream like they did for each of his three national competitions. Casler will be going to nationals again at the beginning of next year.
“It’s a good thing to have a family backing up what you’re doing because you feel like you’re doing the right thing. It makes you want to work harder for them,” Casler said.
After high school, Casler plans to major in bio-medical sciences for pre-med school. Casler is looking to attend Florida State which has a Collegiate Circus he hopes to join.
However, while Casler may continue gymnastics and even coach it later, he does not plan to continue competing internationally. In college and the rest of his life, Casler still plans to put academics first.
“My school life will always be before my extracurricular activities because in the long run, academics are more important,” Casler said.
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