Morning Star Staff
Vernon’s dynamic duo of Megan Hamilton Jaedyn Andreotti are striving for excellence at the National Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships this weekend in Richmond.
The top athletes will be chosen to represent Canada at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
In preparation, the duo attended a pre-nationals training camp with top Canadian judge Olga Khabarova as well as a performance (competition simulation) at VSS.
Hamilton, a Grade 10 VSS students, has always been a hard worker.
“Her phenomenal work ethic, and openness to pushing through each obstacle, has created a consistent and outstanding story of success,” said Vernon coach Camille Martens.
“Last season, Megan made the Junior Canadian National Team and represented Canada overseas twice. Her junior (age 13-15) results led her to being chosen as a recipient of the 2015 Okanagan Sports Hero Award.
“Her outstanding placing and scores in junior however, were to be challenged on a whole new level as she moved into the open senior (16+) category.”
Hamilton swept her first event as a senior, winning five gold medals in Seattle. She then pocketed two gold and three silver at the prestigious L.A. Lights Tournament.
At Elite Canada (National Team trials), Hamilton unexpectedly strode into the National Team Pool in the middle of the pack.
“Her exceptional results gave way to further opportunity and Megan was sanctioned to represent Canada at the renowned Miss Valentine World Competition in Estonia. There she surprised everyone with her dynamic abilities and came home with two bronze and one gold medal.”
Said Hamilton: “Competing against high-level international competitors has motivated me to work even harder. The opportunity to compete at many international events has been invaluable to my development. I was very excited at Elite Canada when I achieved my goal of making the top-10 seniors.”
Andreotti medaled at two consecutive nationals as a novice (age 10-12), but like her teammate, she too had to advance in age categories for 2015.
She is a Grade 7 student at BX Elementary.
“Her bridge into the junior world was propelled when Jaedyn was selected as Canada’s only athlete representative to attend an intense international training camp at the world famous Bela Karolyi Ranch in Texas,” said Martens.
Martens was Canada’s selected coach for the event so the two were immersed in the eight- to 10-hour days which included ballet, fitness, body work, technical knowledge, routine work, apparatus work and more. They were inspired by many Olympic coaches and exposed to new levels of excellence.
“Jaedyn was like a sponge, absorbing each moment and delighting in the unique opportunity she was given,” said Martens. “Watching her work with Olympic medallists and coaches of world and Olympic champions was a coach’s dream come true for me. We both learned so much.”
It is rare for first-year juniors to qualify for the national team pool, but Andreotti used her larger-than-life expressions and strong technique to bring in impressive junior results.
She was top-eight Seattle, LA, and even at the massive event in Estonia (more than 1,000 athletes from 38 countries). She was then chosen to attend the Lisbon World Cup Junior event.
“She was like a rock,” said Martens. “There were times where she was pretty overwhelmed by the magnitude of it all, but her performances showed nothing but her power, consistency and delightful style. Against the world’s best juniors, as one of the youngest participants, Jaedyn brought in some of Canada’s best international scores of the year and earned international attention for placing 23rd overall.”
Said Andreotti: “Estonia was so exciting. My goal was to reach a personal best score of 12, which I did in my clubs routine. Lisbon was amazing because I got the opportunity to watch the best in the world. Watching this level was super inspiring for me and it has kept me motivated to reach my goals for national championships.”
