Ken Ikeda Makes Team

The National Gymnastics’ team will hold its final training camp at the Calgary Gymnastics Centre December 13-20 in final preparation for the upcoming qualifier.

The six members of the National team include Nathan Gafuik (Calgary), Brandon O’Neill and Jackson Payne (Edmonton), Ken Ikeda (Abbotsford), Casey Sandy (Brampton), Jayd Lukenchuk (Saskatoon) and Kevin Lytwyn of Stoney Creek.

To clinch one of just 12 full team berths at the Games next summer the Canadian team needs a top-four finish at the Olympic qualifier.

The top eight nations at the recent world championships in Tokyo qualified directly for the 2012 Games while teams ranked 9th to 16th advanced to the Olympic qualification meet on January 11th in London, England.

“Our 12th place at the worlds in October showed we have what it takes to qualify a full team,” says Canadian program director Jeff Thomson of Vancouver.

“Our strategy now is to make the team a little bit stronger across the board so that we have a buffer at the qualification meet. We want to improve the quality and consistency of the routines, eliminate mistakes we made at the worlds and improve on our landings.”

A final preparation camp will take place in Lowestoft, England with the British team in January.

Congratulations to the squad and wishing them all the best!!