Passing the Bar
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Olympians,
As is our M.O. when friends, a venue, and a equipment converge in the Venn Diagram of sport, we stage an event. Just that happened this last weekend at Santa Monica's Muscle Beach. Read on for what we got up to, plus updates on the long term Pickleball event.
Just finished: Gymnastics IV
It was the domain for bulging biceps and triceps last weekend in Santa Monica. Happening upon Santa Monica's Muscle Beach, our four gymnasts seized the day, checking off three events from the current slate of men's gymnastics events in the Olympics. (That's true, the women and men compete in mostly different apparatus events in the Olympics, and women don't even have the same number of event opportunities as the men.)
Rings
First up, the four took to the air on the rings. It was a chore getting boosted up to a high starting position. G. Sexauer started off with an almost L-sit. Bennett managed some swinging, and K. Sexauer wrapped up the event with a few flexes and an artful dismount. G. Sexauer took home the gold on his limited skills, and Yarnall put it best when he said that it would have been ideal to know about this event six months ahead of time, instead of day of. The rings, as Tolkien could tell you, are not easily mastered.
Parallel Bars
A more familiar site on your elementary school playground, the parallel bars allowed the gymnasts' talents to show a bit more. K. Sexauer hung from her legs off the side, Yarnall strutted his arms, and all were able to maneuver above and below the bar. It may have been Bennett's lengthy arm walk or time spent upside down underneath the bars that sealed the deal on her first ever gold medal!
Horizontal Bar
Finally, we moved over to the horizontal bar, also known as just the bar, or a pull-up bar. With not much left in the tank, no one was able to perform a muscle-up, though G. Sexauer did manage a pull up and a millisecond of a flight. Utilizing some interpretive swinging, Yarnall vaulted into the silver position. Then K. Sexauer wrapped up gold with a hands-free leg swing.
For those keeping track, this was our fourth gymnastics outing, and despite the last minute nature and relatively small diameters of the upper arms of our competitors, it was our best attempt at artistic gymnastics yet! Keep your eye out for any opportunities to stage an event in the other current gymnastics events:
All Around Individual
All Around Team
Balance Beam
Pommel Horse
Rhythmic Group
Uneven Bars
Vault
Winner's interview with Maggie Bennett, gold medalist on the parallel bars
Our Olympics: What's your prior experience with gymnastics?
Maggie Bennett: Uuuuhhh nothing, just today.
OO: What's the best part about muscle beach?
MB: Seeing everyone's skills and talents. It gives you something to aspire to be.
OO: Given that people are out there swinging all day long on these bars, if you had to be one, what type of bar would you be?
MB: My preferred bar is the parallel bars, not just because I won, but with two bars, they are double the fun!
OO: What do you think the optimum temperature of sand is?
MB: Not hot enough to burn your feet for the dismounts. We had the perfect sand temperature today!
Notable stats: First gold medal for Maggie Bennett. Most gymnastics events in one day: 3. First competition in California.Coming up: Pickleball
The competitors continue signing up for our long-term pickleball event. Add your name to the list! The competition will start with a round-robin group stage followed by a bracket stage for the winners of each group. Groups are settling in at four athletes each, and each group centers on one region or friend group so it shouldn't be too hard to meet up for your best of three game matches. Optimally, we'd like to see two more people join who live or travel to the Burlington, VT area with some frequency! Of course, you can sign up no matter where you live! Ask Gustave for more details.What's Next?
We are off to Southeast Asia next month. Who knows what sports may interrupt our travels?
-Gustave
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