Trampoline: Jumping toward Olympic Gold – Dmitri Poliaroush of Russia remembers Jeff Hennessy

Kris Wartelle, Daily Advertiser, May 10, 2012

In the world of competitive sports, the trampoline is considered one of the toughest and most difficult to master for athletes. In fact, only five athletes from the United States have ever made it to Olympic competition. But even more amazing, of those elite five, four of them are from right here in Lafayette.

Two of them, 18-year-old Savannah Vinsant and 17-year-old Hunter Brewster were Junior Olympians and are working to advance on to the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Vinsant is ranked No. 1 in the sport in the U.S. and within reach of her goal to become an Olympic champion.

"For so long I’ve trained for it, and now it’s in the palm of my hand," Vinsant said. "I’m at the point where I can truly fulfill my dream."

Her dream started when she was just a little girl. She says it all goes back to the dance classes she took when she was about 5. She says she hated them and would sneak out to a tumbling class going on next door.

"I was 5 years old and already beating the system," Vinsant said with a laugh. "That’s how I got started. Once I signed up for a class, six months after that I joined the team and I’ve been here ever since."

For Brewster, who is ranked No. 8 in the nation in the men’s sport, the road to the trampoline might have seemed pretty obvious from the start. He says when he was a little boy he would jump on his parents bed doing flips and turns and all kinds of dangerous tricks. He says he would turn cartwheels in the living room and even broke a vase or two in his time.

"I would watch Power Rangers on TV and want to be like them," Brewster said. "My parents said, ‘I don’t know what to do with this kid.’ So they signed me up for trampoline class to keep me away from their bed."

Now, Brewster and Vinsant are headed to the second of three Olympic Trials and may soon tread down a path very few athletes from the U.S. ever have. Lafayette native Chris Estrada was the first male from the U.S. ever to qualify for the Olympics. He competed in

Beijing in 2008. And, even though he didn’t win a medal, he says it was an experience he will never forget.

"We were the last country to walk into the stadium," said Estrada. "So I got to see some of it on the big screen and it was the craziest moment. I felt like the movie ‘Gladiator.’ I was overwhelmed. I had never seen this many people in my life."

Estrada now coaches gymnastics at Trampoline and Tumbling Express in Lafayette. The same gym where Vinsant and Brewster train every day along with their coach, legendary Olympic trampolinist and World Championship medalist Dmitri Poliaroush of Russia.

According to Poliaroush, the trampoline has a long connection to Lafayette.

"There was a professor, Jeff Hennessy who had a program at USL in the ’70s in tumbling and trampoline, where he trained many world champions," said Poliaroush. "He was also the United States Trampoline Team coach."

Hennessy was an associate professor of physical education at UL, formerly USL, and coached the team from the 1960s until the 1980s. So the connection to Lafayette can at least partly be traced to him.

Poliaroush and Tumbling Express owner Tara Guidry have kept the tradition alive by training top athletes in the sport for more than a decade. Guidry and Poliaroush say because Vinsant is ranked No. 1 in the nation and No. 7 in the world, she has the best shot at competing in the next Olympics for the United States — something that hasn’t happened since Erin Blanchard of Lafayette competed in 2008 at the Beijing Olympics.

"It’s a very competitive sport," said Poliaroush. "Only 16 men and 16 women can qualify for the Olympics. Not every country will make it. The sport is dominated by China, Russia, Canada and Japan. So it’s very hard for U.S. to compete."

Vinsant and Brewster will give it their best, however, and Poliaroush says Vinsant will likely be the next woman to compete for the United States in the Olympics.

Guidry agrees. She has watched world-class athletes go on from her gym in Lafayette to win numerous national competitions. She has been participating in gymnastics and trampoline since she was young.

She says building a gym like this one was something she always dreamed about.

"There was never anything like this when I was growing up," said Guidry. "I always wanted to open something to give others the chance.

One look at Vinsant practice her routine, and you can see why so few, even given a chance, can master the sport. As she jumps up and down on the trampoline, she reaches dizzying heights.

On the way down, she turns flip after flip and twist after twist. It takes perfect coordination and excellent quick-thinking skills to be able to make it to this level.

"It’s all about being graceful," she says. "You have to make it look easy, like it’s not hard. It’s a thrill and it’s just great to be a part of it."

Athletic Network Footnote:
Click here for the AN profile of Coach Jeff Hennessy