The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

ALTHOUGH she was the alternate member of the team, Kianna Dean said she was more than happy to have represented the Bahamas in gymnastics at the Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada.

Competing in the Gymnastics Artistics competition for women, Dean had an all-around performance of 32.600 points, which didn’t allow her to advance. But the 19-year-old said she was just elated to have broken the ceiling by becoming the first competitor to represent the Bahamas in a major international competition.

“It was really amazing being able to do that and I felt I did well and I handled it well,” Dean told The Tribune. “I went into the competition knowing that my skill level wasn’t at the same level as some of the other athletes, but I didn’t let that discourage me from competing. I just tried my best and I think I succeeded.”

While the bars are her favourite apparatus in competition, Dean said she made the most of the experience to compete under the circumstances that she found herself in. On the vault, Dean collected 12.250 points, 2,550 on the uneven bars (2.550), 8.150 on the balance bean and 9.650 on the floor.

“It was a wonderful experience, definitely a once in a lifetime,” she said. “I was the alternate originally for this competition, but after I heard that, I paid a little less attention to it. But after being asked to compete, I started to research and found out a few weeks ago that the Pan Am is only held every four years.

“So I just took that in consideration and I tried to use that as a motivation for me.”

Dean was accompanied at the meet by coach Trevor Ramsey and Barbara Thompson, the president of the Bahamas Gymnastics Federation.

“I think she came in with a very positive attitude. I think she came in very focused. I think she came in knowing that the level of competition was a little higher than she is used to competing against,” Ramsey said. “But I think she handled the pressure very well. She rose to the occasion and she represented the Bahamas very well. She did an awesome job.”

There’s a lot of room for improvement for Dean and Ramsey said it would be best for her to get back into the gym and work on some new stuff that will help to push her to the next level. Ramsey, however, reminded the public that Dean was not selected to compete until after Hall went down with the injury.

“She’s going to resume working on the new skills that she has been working on in order to increase her skill level,” Ramsey said. “I just spoke to Simone yesterday (Monday) and she is recovering very well. She is back in the gym training and she is very excited after watching the Pan Am Games and she’s looking forward to going to the World Championships with Kianna.”

Knowing exactly how she got to the point where she broke the ceiling for the Bahamas, Thompson said watching Dean in action was just amazing.

“The Bahamas made it. Thanks to Kianna and Simone,” she said. “I think they can now look out for us because there are some great things ahead. Our next stop is Glasgow at the World Championships in October. So because of her performance, I think it will raise the bar for our other athletes who are in Nassau training.”

With every country and every gymnast at a different level, Dean said she now knows what she needs to do to get better because everything at the games was on a bigger scale than she is accustomed to.

“I just have to stay motivated, stay in the gym and keep working hard,” Dean said. “I just have to keep my focus where it needs to be and keep pushing.”

Dean will now be gearing up for a trip to the World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland in October where she hopes to team up with Simone Hall, whom she replaced after Hall suffered an injury and had to skip the Toronto trip.

Although she’s done, Dean will get the opportunity to stay in Toronto until Friday. She got a chance to watch the finals on Monday and is looking forward to seeing the Bahamian swimmers in action. However, she said she’s disappointed that she won’t be around to meet the athletes on the track and field team, but she wishes them every success.

As for the sport moving forward, coach Ramsey said he’s always delighted when he can get to witness this level of competition. However, he’s also disappointed in knowing that the Bahamas is so far behind the rest of the world in gymnastics.

“As a country, if we want to be serious about gymnastics and the other sports that are out there, we really need to make a commitment to our athletes,” he said. “They are as prepared as the athletes in these other countries. I believe gymnastics has a long way to go. We need better equipment, better facilities, we need more training, more coaches to come in and teach us how to train our kids, if we are going to be serious about this sport.”

Thompson said Dean’s performance showed that the federation has a lot of work ahead of them.

“We have some senior gymnasts who are doing some amazing things, but we also have to look at the younger ones and get them on board with equally competitive programmes,” she said. “The Bahamas needs to enhance its programme if we are going to be competitive against these international stellar and elite athletes.

“We really need to step up to the plate and give our younger gymnasts more opportunities and also increase and reach out to more of our youth, who are talented and interested. We need to get them into the gym.”

Looking back at her major international debut, Dean said she will cherish the trip to Toronto for the rest of her life.

“Just being in a village and sharing the townhouse with other Bahamian athletes is really nice,” she said. “I’m a little sad that I won’t be here when the track athletes get here, but we have swimming, boxing and tennis here right now, so it’s nice being around everybody.”