Trials … or tribulations? Tasha has to prove herself

Friday, June 25, 2004 | 10:48 a.m.

In theory, the U.S. gymnastics trials should serve as the final signpost on the Road to Athens.

But in reality, for most of the athletes trying to make Greece the word, this weekend's meet at the Arrowhead Pond at Anaheim is little more than another left-hand turn.

While the name of the event suggests that this is where America will select the teams that will compete against the world later this summer, the women's team won't be selected until July 18, following a five-day, behind-closed-doors camp at coach Martha Karolyi's gymnastics compound in Houston.

"The Olympic trials are kind of a showing," said Cassie Rice, longtime coach of Las Vegan Tasha Schwikert, the only returnee from the 2000 Olympic team that will be competing in Anaheim. "Then you are going to get picked to go to a camp -- and they could pick everybody from the Olympic trials to go to this camp in July. That's where they are really going to pick this team."

Perhaps, it was suggested to Rice, they should change the name of this meet from the Olympic trials to the Olympic exhibition.

"Well, (that's what) it is," she said. "But if you're one of those bubble people (to make the team) and you can pop yourself up there, it's going to be good for you. And Tasha needs meets. She has to have this; she needs competitive experience."

NBC (Channel 3) will televise the women's finals at 7 p.m. Sunday, tape-delayed.

There are two reasons Schwikert, the U.S. all-around champion in 2001 and '02, finds herself on the bubble to make the team. First, there are the foot and ankle injuries that have slowed her for much of the past two years. Then, there's the depth of the American women's team.

"I can't think of a time when our women's program was so deep," said USA Gymnastics President Bob Colarossi. "I'm excited, and a little bit scared, that we have to get the right kids on the floor. It's important to realize that the athletes will be chosen by the value they add to the team score, not their value in individual competitions."

The favorites heading into Anaheim are Carly Patterson and Courtney Kupets, who tied for the national championship at Nashville earlier this month. After that, it's anybody guess. The American team is so talented that it won its first world championship last year, also at the Pond, with a patchwork team after injuries knocked out several front-line performers, including Kupets.

Schwikert, according to many observers, was the glue that held the team together that weekend. For that reason, she might receive a bit of preferential treatment when it comes to selecting the six members and three alternates to this year's team.

But, as Rice says, only a bit.

"They want her on the team," Rice said, "but only if she is able to perform. She'll have to be on her game or they won't take her."

So, the question remains, will Schwikert be on her game? She was on during the prelims at the national meet, where she stood third, but then her Achilles' injury flared up in the finals, dropping her to ninth.

Schwikert said she didn't think her injuries would be a significant problem at the trials.

"I'm doing good as far as being healthy," she said. "But not gymnastically. I'm probably about 75 percent. I need some meets, so this is definitely important. I need to show them I can still compete well."

In another year, Schwikert could probably make the team on reputation alone. Since Sydney she has established herself as a fixture both in and outside the arena, as her modeling spread in the current issue of Glamour magazine confirms.

But she knows making the team won't be easy, what with all the talent the U.S. women have assembled.

"I can definitely appreciate it more," she said about the prospect of going back to the Olympics. "I would soak in the experience more, and it would definitely be a full ending, as far as competition, to my elite career. Also, we've got a great team this year. We've got the potential (to win the gold medal).

"That makes it tough as an individual (to make the team). But as far as our country goes, it's real good."

While Schwikert says this is an exciting time in the life of any world-class gymnast, at 19 and with a full scholarship to UCLA waiting for her in the fall, she also has something to look forward to after all of this is over.

"Whatever happens, I'm certainly happy with it," she said. "Of course, making the team is my 100-percent, number one goal. That's what I'm striving for. I'll be disappointed if I don't make it, but it's not the end of the world.

"I'm excited about these next three months. But I'm also excited about what's going to happen after them."