Alex has graduated to Level 8 gymnastics this year. It’s a big difference from Level 7. In Level 7, there are required moves and routines that everyone has to do. In Level 8, you get to assemble your own moves and routines. You incorporate the highest scoring moves, you think you can execute well, in your routine.
Level 7 is also broken down by age group to keep it fair for the younger kids; they are changing so fast when they’re younger. 10 year old Level 7s compete separately from 11 year old Level 7s. At Level 8; no more age groups.
The pool of participants gets smaller at each level, so at the higher levels they run multiple levels at the same time; levels 8, 9, and 10 all together. So little twelve year old Alex is out there competing at the same time, and on the same equipment, as high school kids. That’s particularly evident at the start of the vault video. The coach hoisting Alex up to the rings is a new coach for him this year, Alex Svitlychnyy, an Olympian and USSR National Champion, who works exclusively with the Level 8s. The coach facing the camera and spotting Alex on the high bar routine is Roman Gryshayev, the Men’s Team South – Head Coach. (There are two gyms associated with 5280 Gymnastics, the north and south gyms.) Roman holds seven national pommel horse titles from Ukraine.
Here are some videos from Alex’s first Level 8 meet. We weren’t there; Matt took them:
He didn’t podium, but he scored pretty well overall. He had some 10s and 12s.
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