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Show 3C Lakeside Review, Wednesday, August 20, 1986 r rilhr'1'- intpi - nj jiVujjMi-- '- - jwmijin'muf i ii m ' UAA PBBiif mi afwiijwupiifpipii. ri.Urtir tv. -' 2 nr ' :.'.i Story by Gary Hatch Photos by Rodney Wright U era LAYTON North Davis County can lay claim to a highly regarded, international level Dereck competitor in Gibson. Dereck is one of the four top athletes in his sport in the United States, and will travel to Paris, France in October to compete aeainst athletes from some 30 countries for the world title. And Derecks coach, Jim Am mondt, 28, of Farmington, is considered by many to be one of the best coaches in the sport. The anonymity these two area residents suffer despite their successes results from the publics acro-gyignorance of their sport nasties. What was that again? K. A p V . r ft ? o- A i t J , I4- I 4 - ?? :N y t V X x s i a ) '. '. 5r I i m & Acro-gymnastic- s. i, enActually, compasses three separate competitive events: trampolining, tumbling and sports acrobatics, which can most easily be described as team tumbling. Tumbling is what Ammondt mainly teaches and what Dereck executes as well as anyone in the country. But it is tumbling with a little extra punch. Instead of performing on a mat like the gymnasts in floor exercise do, tumblers perform on a long, narrow, springy platform. The platform is about six feet wide and long. boards run the length of the platform and snow skis line its length to act as a springy floor. Over the skis lies a h thick sheet of polyfoam and h over that another thick standard gymnastic strip mat. During a competition the athlete makes a series of five passes performing as many as 10 skills in each pass. Dereks success at his age is not common. He is already a e national champion in competition. He is also the youngest athlete ever to make the national elite team (the highest category) and he holds the world record for a person his age in total points for the five cs - A "A f ' , ? i 4 if S tf'y (w, 'X fas f y ( ft s y i - r 1 Two-by-s- ? V r 4 x r i rrCf i y 4 f ? fe x V ' ' acro-gymnas- rs 4 V fwv ? A i y S A T&$ ix V ) V-- V ) ) s j 7a ? W 4 ? V one-inc- two-inc- s 7 K v i five-tim- y? V v age-gro- ns A M passes. Dereck Gibson lays out a back flip on tumbling passes (top and far left). ft Above, Dereck goes ll routhrough a f Four of Derecks team mates make up more than half the n National team, four boys and four girls, and that statistic demonstrates the position Ammondts troops hold in the sport. All five made the team based on the top three of five national meet performances the past year. What does Dereck think of his accomplishment? Im happy to do it, said the Central Davis but I havent really thought that much about it. tumbling has been around for somewhere near 18 years. Derecks trip to Paris will mark the ninth world championships, which are held every other year. Although the tumbling passes appear to resemble some of the passes made by gymnasts in the floor exercise, tumbling actually has its roots in trampolning. Its actually closer to trampolining because you perform 10 successive skills, one right after the other, Ammondt said. Tumbling also provides a springboard of ideas for gymnasts. Many of the new skills you see gymnasts beginning to incorporate into their routines, we were doing three and four years five-ski- f tine in his mind and with the aid of hand gestures as he prepares himself mentally for the pass. Below, Dereck stretches out on the long, narrow tumbling platform. eight-perso- seventh-grader-to-b- vs. ? v x " i9 J 5 $ - , ; v. i 1 ? , V 'V V 4 4 J A S tH ? 4 'A v e, Acro-gymnasti- cs And a lot of the skills you see us doing now will show up in gymnastics three or four years v r y V v 5 It & Strife V. & a wJO C L V K,t i, ' w Hr if X X 4? 4 t 4 :!' W I Wl - v- i - if. ..p down the road, Ammondt said. One of the things Ammondt likes best about the sport is that because the kids only compete in one event, they dont need to spend all the hours gymnasts must spend in the gym practic- peted internationally in She placed third in the . A .5 Acro-gymnasti- cs World Champion- A few years ago, Roy gymnast Hamblin brought some notoriety to the sport because she was proficient as both a gymnast and an She com I , ships in Bulgaria two years later, and then went on to compete in gymnastics for BYU. winning honors in 82 and 83. ing. acro-gymnas- D acro-gymnasti- placing second at the World championships at Moscow in the Soviet Union in 1976. Becky ago. U v Wo--- .las wxrtuM- -4 All-Regi- Dereck is the son of Hi and Gibson of Lavton. t. Ma-re- w VrV.tvh...vS!Cv7 V;. iX a fc- ' r ' j, ' mi ii. T'i n ii,i j -i .. i,."1 'V' r .. ).' ' , r j ' , t i1' J 4V kJ t' t $ t ,',ii , ' ,v ' ' V ." t , " mtm " . v x 'f. ' j ' f a -4 3 |