She stands ready, awaiting the sound of the music. Her coach has informed her of her expectations and she knows what she needs to do to fulfill them. Her eyes wander through the flashing cameras, overwhelmed by the enormity of the crowd present. She catches a glimpse of her parents, who give her temporary relief from her nervousness and help her gain her focus. As she continues to skim through the crowd, four particular people catch her eye, the people deciding her fate, the judges. She takes a deep breath and silences the crowd from her mind. She closes her eyes and says a brief prayer to herself, asking God for strength and courage. An instant later music plays. She opens her eyes and assumes her beginning stance, and begins her routine.
Sophomore Chandler McGee has been active in Gymnastics since she was 3-years-old when her mom saw she had talent in tumbling, and still continues it to this very day. She is currently ranked at a level 9, only two levels below an elite ranking. Olympic gymnasts such as Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin are ranked level elites. She trains for 25 hours a week and doesn’t get Fridays or Saturdays off. McGee also attends AP classes and runs with cross country, which makes managing time harder for her.
“Sometimes I questioned, why gymnastics? But it grew into something I liked, then into something I loved. After I compete in a meet and I do really well, I realize why I love the sport,” McGee said.
McGee originally started at Aerials Gymnastics, but when her skill improved, she and her mother realized that it was time to move on. At the recommendation of a friend, they went to Hurst Gymnastics. As time passed, McGee’s talent grew and she moved to two more gyms before finally settling at Texas Academy Gymnastics.
“I noticed as we switched gyms the workouts and conditioning were a lot harder. But I had a lot of talent and my mom knew I could advance,” McGee said.
McGee performs in floor, vault and bars, with floors being her forte. A typical day of training consists of layouts, front hand springs, back hand springs, diagonals, and tumbling. In floor, McGee must memorize several moves and executes them with precise accuracy, for footwork is a big part in scoring. Chandler has her own way of completing her floor routines.
“I do all things through Christ. I rely on him to let my body remember all the hours I’ve trained and all the positions I need to be in,” McGee said.
From that point on, McGee attended several competitions and meets and experienced success, scoring around a high 37 most of the time. However, she makes mistakes sometimes. In a meet to qualify for regionals, she fell twice on bars. Although it took a heavy toll on her score, she still performed well enough on other events to qualify.
“After the first fall I was like okay I can still pull this out. But after the second I was about to cry. I had to find inner strength to pull myself out and hit all my other events,” McGee said.
McGee wants to continue her gymnastics once she’s out of high school. She’s considered the Olympics, but if that does not work out, she plans on competing in college gymnastics.
“I know it is a long shot to the Olympics, but I would love to train and become an elite,” McGee said.
