Young rhythmic gymnast has right bloodlines

Press, 19 July 1989, Page 34

Young rhythmic gymnast has right bloodlines

By

DIANNA LESLIE

Kathryn Hughes has the ideal bloodlines to be a top gymnast, but it takes more than parentage to make it to the top. Hughes’ father, Edward, is a runner and her mother, Adrienne, was an accomplished gymnast herself, in acrobatic dancing. Eastern bloc countries consider thts combination the perfect background for their future gymnasts. Hughes, aged 16, is a pupil at Rangi Ruru Girls’ School, and was recently named as the travelling reserve in the New Zealand senior rhythmic gymnastic squad to compete in Yugoslavia. She is hopeful of a place higher in the starting order for the Commonwealth Games. Hughes’ rigorous 22 hours of training every week neatly wipes out her social life and her close

attention to her weight keeps her well away from the school, tuck shop. “Gymnasts can’t be carrying any excess weight, so I hardly ever buy things at the school tuck shop unless it is for a treat and then I feel like everyone is so surprised that they are all watching me,” she said. Hughes started out her career as an artistic gymnast at the age of seven. She was New Zealand’s top artistic junior gymnast at 11 years of age and because she was unbeaten on the floor, her strongest suit, her career took another path. “Rhythmic is all floor work so I made the change, but it was a fear of artistic gymnastics mainly,” she said. Hughes won an A.G.C. Young Achievers Award at the age of 14 in 1987

and the attractive young athlete spent five weeks in Europe. She was; a reserve in the New Zealand senior team which competed in the four continents championship in Toronto and found the competition “much tougher than in New Zealand.” Even if Hughes is given the chance to travel with the New Zealand team to Yugoslavia as reserve she will not take it up.. “It’s too much money to go and sit and watch,” she said. Mrs Hughes estimated that it costs about $lO,OOO to keep a gymnast at the top every year in terms of gear, training and travelling.

Kathyrn Hughes’ coach, Dale Mercier, lives in Dunedin and Hughes ■ often travels to the deep South for training weekends. Mercier is also a clinical psychologist and is highly rated in New Zealand as a coach. She limits herself to one pupil at a time and uses her professional knowledge to assess her charge. “She is one of the best coaches in New Zealand. She also does psychology sessions with me because I am lacking confidence in myself,” said Hughes. In Christchurch Sharon Perry trains Hughes on behalf of Mercier. When Hughes is not training herself she coaches at Rangi Ruru. She finds motivation difficult as her peers are all based in Auckland and there is no serious challenger to her in Christchurch.

Hughes is hopeful of competing in senior European competition next year and is eager to go to the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.

But her ultimate plans revolve around the' Brother Cup. “It is an annual competition where one rhythmic gymnast from each country is invited to go to the competition. Hopefully, one day I will get to that.”

Many may justifiably wonder why Hughes works so hard in a sport with no monetary remuneration, with demanding workloads and a relatively short career span, but there is no doubting her dedication. “I love it. I couldn’t give it up. I look forward to travelling overseas and meeting up with my gym friends and competing.”