Another gym dandy

Victoria Sun

Tuesday, July 9, 2002 | 10:21 a.m.

She was too young, too young to tumble and crawl around with the older kids.

So Jordan Schwikert sat in the balcony and cried as 3-year-old sister Tasha participated in gymnastics class, longing for the day she could join her.

Today, there's little that separates the Las Vegas duo, 15-year-old Jordan and 17-year-old Tasha, two of the U.S.'s most promising gymnasts.

"She was in gymnastics, I wanted to do it too," Jordan said. "So when I got old enough, I took little mommy-and-me classes.

"It looked like fun. I really couldn't do any other sports because I was so young and you have to be a little older to start softball or whatever. I did soccer but I hated being out in the sun, and I hated running back and forth. So I saw my sister do gymnastics and I thought, 'Oooh, how fun.' "

The fun hasn't stopped for either sister. Tasha, Jordan and coach Cassie Rice will fly to Virginia Beach, Va., on Thursday for the U.S. Classic, which begins Friday.

For Tasha, the defending national champion, it will be a practice meet because she has already qualified for the U.S. Gymnastics Championships by finishing first at the American Classic in March.

Jordan, who finished third at the American Classic to also earn a spot at the nationals, won't be competing this week because she is nursing a stress fracture in her back. Her next meet will be the nationals Aug. 7-10 in Cleveland, where she will compete against Tasha for the first time. This is Jordan's first year in the senior division.

"We're both excited for each other," Jordan said. "I think we're happy for each other. We're sisters, we're both up there and it's cool."

On occasion, Jordan turns to Tasha for support and advice, but their relationship extends beyond the gym.

Jordan sounds mystified when describing their similarities. They both want to be orthodontists and have the same taste in clothes and music.

"I think we're alike in a lot of ways," Jordan said. "One day, I was at the mall with a friend and I bought a shirt. Tasha went to the mall later that day and came home with the exact same shirt. It was just so funny."

When it comes to gymnastics, however, the two are worlds apart.

Rice points out that Tasha is naturally powerful, which is good for vault and tumbling, but vault is her weakest event. Rice considers Tasha's strengths to be the floor exercise and balance beam. Jordan works best on the beams, but she has been most successful on bars.

"They're totally different gymnasts and totally different people," Rice said. "So you have to work with each one of their strengths and weaknesses.

"Some skills Tasha can't do at all and Jordan is very good at and vice versa. But they're both really good all-around gymnasts. I think they could both be the top in the sport if they stay injury free."

All three agreed that Tasha is a natural at performing, while Jordan excels more at the daily grind of training six hours a day.

"Tasha has lots of confidence when she goes to a meet," Jordan said. "I have to work harder in the gym to do well in a meet. If I'm not doing well in the gym, then it would be very hard for me to do well at a meet. I have to earn my confidence; (Tasha) just has it."

Tasha wowed the world at the 2000 Olympics and plans on attending college on a gymnastics scholarship after the 2004 Olympics. Jordan hopes to fulfill her own Olympic and collegiate dreams.

"My goal is to be in the 2004 Olympics," she said. "What keeps me motivated is I know that having this discipline right now will help me later on in life. Plus, if I keep going and doing well, I can get a college scholarship so that my parents don't have to pay for it. I can earn it myself.

"That's very important to me. I want to get a degree. I want to be an orthodontist. Same with my sister. She wants to be that too." So you have to work with each one of their strengths and weaknesses."