Kevin Lytwyn is the son of long time Beach resident Peter Lytwyn, now living in Stoney Creek
Posted with permission from the Hamilton Spectator
Gary McKay
Hamilton Spectator
Friday October 30, 2009
Getting to sleep in his own bed, train at his own club and hitting the books is something Kevin Lytwyn is really looking forward to for the next couple of months. That's because early next year he knows that the hectic travel and competition schedule he's endured for the last nine or 10 months will start all over again.
The 18-year-old Stoney Creek resident is a rising star in Canadian gymnastics. He burst into the limelight this past summer when he won the gold medal in high bar and a bronze in the parallel bars with dramatic performances at the Canadian Gymnastics Championships at McMaster University.
Since then his life has been a whirlwind of competition and training camps from one side of the globe to the other.
At one point last month he wrapped up the World Junior International Championships in Yokohama, Japan, then travelled to Tokyo, flew to Toronto, then after a three-hour wait flew to London, waited another five hours and then bused three days to a small town on the English east coast for another training camp to prepare for the world championships. In total, they were travelling or in transit for 38 hours straight. Ah, the glorious life of an elite athlete.
"We've been going non-stop and I'm getting pretty tired," said Lytwyn, who trains out of the Burlington Boys' Gymnastics Club. "And next year is going to be worse. We just got the schedule for next year and it's crazy."
Lytwyn, who graduated to the senior ranks of gymnastics at the Canadian Championships, was still eligible to compete as a junior at the World Junior Championships in Yokohama, and won bronze medals in both the vault and high bar despite the fact that he sprained a trapezius muscle just days before leaving for the competition.
He also competed in his first world championship as a senior in London, England.
"The fact that he competed in his first Worlds a big deal for him," said his coach Carlo Pacella. "It was a big learning experience and he won two medals in Japan.
"This has been a breakthrough year for him because now he's a senior and there are quite a few seniors (on the Canadian team) that are packing it in."
Posted with permission from the Hamilton Spectator
Gary McKay
Hamilton Spectator
Friday October 30, 2009
Getting to sleep in his own bed, train at his own club and hitting the books is something Kevin Lytwyn is really looking forward to for the next couple of months. That's because early next year he knows that the hectic travel and competition schedule he's endured for the last nine or 10 months will start all over again.
The 18-year-old Stoney Creek resident is a rising star in Canadian gymnastics. He burst into the limelight this past summer when he won the gold medal in high bar and a bronze in the parallel bars with dramatic performances at the Canadian Gymnastics Championships at McMaster University.
Since then his life has been a whirlwind of competition and training camps from one side of the globe to the other.
At one point last month he wrapped up the World Junior International Championships in Yokohama, Japan, then travelled to Tokyo, flew to Toronto, then after a three-hour wait flew to London, waited another five hours and then bused three days to a small town on the English east coast for another training camp to prepare for the world championships. In total, they were travelling or in transit for 38 hours straight. Ah, the glorious life of an elite athlete.
"We've been going non-stop and I'm getting pretty tired," said Lytwyn, who trains out of the Burlington Boys' Gymnastics Club. "And next year is going to be worse. We just got the schedule for next year and it's crazy."
Lytwyn, who graduated to the senior ranks of gymnastics at the Canadian Championships, was still eligible to compete as a junior at the World Junior Championships in Yokohama, and won bronze medals in both the vault and high bar despite the fact that he sprained a trapezius muscle just days before leaving for the competition.
He also competed in his first world championship as a senior in London, England.
"The fact that he competed in his first Worlds a big deal for him," said his coach Carlo Pacella. "It was a big learning experience and he won two medals in Japan.
"This has been a breakthrough year for him because now he's a senior and there are quite a few seniors (on the Canadian team) that are packing it in."
