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What makes a 'great' aerialist
Canadian Veronica Brenner, 26, is considered a veteran in the sport of freestyle skiing. The aerialist was a member of the 1998 Canadian Olympic team and won the 1997 World Cup title. Brenner, a native of Scarborough, Ontario, missed the past World Cup season after tearing her ACL but is back on track to make the 2002 Olympic team. Check out Brenner's diary on CNNSI.com as she prepares for Salt Lake City.
July 25, 2001
What makes a great aerialist? A gymnast or a low handicap golfer?
This is a good question. A question for which there is no simple answer. How wonderful it would be if there was some easy formula -- just plug in a child and out pops a successful athlete. For a more complete look at the subject, I polled some of the best athletes and coaches in the world. Here are their views, in addition to my own. Chuck Bass, former U.S. team aerialist, my coach's brother and someone who's spent the past 15 years analyzing the sport, set me straight from the start. There are really "three levels to that question," he wrote, "What does it take to be an aerialist? What does it take to be a good aerialist? And what does it take to be a great aerialist?"
All it takes to be an aerialist is the guts to get off the jump that first time. Good aerialists are usually strong acrobats with excellent spatial awareness (they either have past experience at gymnastics, trampoline, diving, etc. or pick up acrobatic skills quickly) and are decent skiers. Of course talent, fluidity of motion, and technical ability are also important. However, once an aerialist gets to the elite level, mental skills are crucial for success. Athletes have to be mentally tough -- able to focus under pressure, deal with any situations that may arise during competition and bounce back after a bad performance or crash. People often ask me if the height and build of an aerialist matters. At 5-foot-8, I'm one of the taller athletes on the hill (male or female). Our sport does tend to attract a fair number of former gymnasts, a sport that favors short, compact athletes. Still, height doesn't seem to affect my performance, and Eric Bergoust, one of the most successful aerialists in history (1998 Olympic Champion and 1999 World Champion), is over 6-foot. To put things bluntly (something my friends tell me I do well), it's likely that shorter athletes are attracted to aerials because if they were bigger they'd be making big bucks playing hockey, basketball, tennis, or competing in some other professional sport. Now let's get back to what makes a "great" aerialist. Really, it's no different than what makes someone great in any field, be it sports, business, research, etc. "Tenacity and a deep emotional well" is what sets some apart from the rest, says Peter Judge, a former Canadian champ and the current Australian team head coach. Words like dedication, perseverance, focus, desire, discipline, competitiveness, confidence, hard work, and commitment surfaced again and again from others I asked. Acrobatic sports are unique, as they require athletes to spend more time in the air than on the ground. My coach, Nick Bass, believes that a great aerialist is the athlete who cannot spend enough time in the air. The most successful, he feels, are the athletes that spend their free time playing around on trampolines, diving, flipping, twisting, and anything else that gives them the same sense of freedom that comes with jumping. They are in love with not just their sport, but also the feeling of flying. I believe that above all else, in order to be successful, one must possess an incredible passion for what they do. At the risk of sounding cliché, to be a great aerialist, it is not enough to just show up for training. Instead, it is essential to live aerials to a point of obsession, to push beyond one's limits, and thus elevate the sport to a whole new level.
"I am the greatest." -- Veronica
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