Secret Diary of a Trampolinist aged (43 ¾)

Part 8 - Where did all that time go?

01 June 2005 - Hello there, what have you all been upto this last, er, twelve months?

All rumours that I've hung up my surgical support are greatly exaggerated! I am indeed still bouncing and loving it. Only the bitter disappointment of not being selected for the 2004 Olympics has prevented me from updating the diary. However, I managed to bounce back and I've increased my training sessions from 1 hour per week to 4 hours per week in my quest to make the 2008 Olympics. Life in the old dog yet! Did I mention I came second in a competition? Oh well I'll tell you later.

As you may recall I took a bit of a tumble last June and although not injured, both my pride and confidence took a little bit of a bashing. So progress has been a bit slower than I would have hoped but I've had my 3/4 turn over signed off and I'm back on to summies. One or two other things have clicked like seat drop to front drop and this is progressing nicely to back drop to front drop.

I must just mention what a great job our coach Sue is doing. Not only would lesser mortals have given up on the likes of me years ago, she is also working wonders with some of the more capable (younger adults). A couple are doing baranis, straight backs, crash dives and something that looks like a worm wriggling on the end of a hook! And these folks are only a few hundred years younger than me!

Far be it from me to have a sudden attack of modesty but I suppose I'd better mention my latest triumph and get it out of the way. In February West View ran their own competition and I came 2nd in the adults class! Sandwiched between our very own coach in 1st place and a coach from a rival club in 3rd place. My trophy now takes pride of place along side the 4th I got last year. At this rate a gold in 2008 does seem possible.

The Spoils

If I need the adrenalin of competition to spurn me on to greater things then "J" provides a little of that in our training sessions. Although she has only been with us a short time she is already improving ahead of some of the more senior members of the club and is looking good for baranis and backs very soon. Yes, OK, I'm jealous but her progress also inspires me to get a move on so keep up the good work "J".

Whip crack away! Do you know anyone at our club that has a Lara Croft style ponytail that whips her when she bounces? Yeeha! Clue: her name begins with Sue.

Guess what? I have just discovered that I'm not the oldest bouncer in the club, that honour goes to my co-bounder Ade. I can't reveal his age but you can probably work it out from the title of this article. All this time I thought I was the oldest bouncer in the village!