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Tasha Schwikert finishes off a pass while rehearsing her floor exercise. Photo by Jeff Scheid. More photos of Tasha: At the gym, at school and at home PLAYING FAVORITES A sampling of some of Tasha Schwikert's favorite things: HEALTHY FOOD: Any kind of fruit or grilled chicken or yogurt 'SPLURGE' FOOD: Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches BANDS: Blink 182, Fenix TX, Incubus, Nickelback CURRENT FAVORITE SONG: "I Wish You Were Here," Incubus THING TO DO OUTSIDE GYMNASTICS: Shopping/hanging out with friends THING TO DO WITHIN GYMNASTICS: Traveling and competing CLASS: Anatomy and physiology CITY: Any Southern California city with beaches COUNTRY OTHER THAN U.S.: Australia DRINK: Carmel Macchiato from Starbucks TV SHOW: "Saturday Night Live" MOVIE: Scary Movie I and II SPORT TO WATCH: The X Games Related Story: Coach finds rewards, drawbacks in working with world-class athlete More photos of The Palms

Sunday, October 28, 2001
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

A DAY WITH OLYMPIAN TASHA SCHWIKERT: Keeping Her Balance

Young athlete, student pays for success with long, structured days

5:20 a.m. Friday, Oct. 12.

The alarm sounds in the 16-year-old's bedroom. Nearly two hours before school begins, her thoughts probably mirror those of many average teen-agers.

"I'm just like really tired," she says.

She slumps out of bed, takes a shower, figures out what to wear -- today, it's blue jeans, a T-shirt and an oversized, hooded blue sweatshirt. The clothes are similar to what many average teen-agers will wear this day.

She grooms her long, flowing, curly hair the way she likes it for school, not unlike many average teen-agers.

She eats a bowl of Corn Pops and some yogurt, a breakfast much like that of many average teen-agers.

Then she grabs her keys and heads to the car with her 15-year-old sister to drive to school, just like many average teen-agers.

But she's barely one hour into a rigidly scheduled 18-hour day.

For as much as the early stages of Tasha Schwikert's day suggest she's just an average teen-ager, and as much as she at times wants to be one, she's not.

She's an Olympian and a reigning national champion. She's the best female gymnast in the United States.

-- -- --

6:40 a.m.

Tasha and sister Jordan, herself a nationally acclaimed junior-level gymnast, leave their northwest Las Vegas home in a sparkling blue 2001 Chrysler Sebring. The radio is on, but they've flipped through three or four stations and found nothing playing to spark them.

Thank goodness for the CD player. Jordan pops in the latest from Cold, lets one song go by, then trades it for some Alien Ant Farm.

Tasha navigates a mess of traffic approaching Centennial High School, which houses more than 3,400 students. They arrive at 6:55 a.m. Jordan, a sophomore, exits and quickly disappears into the sea of students.

Tasha, a junior, takes a little more time, lugging several textbooks and notebooks. She's gearing up for her first day back after missing two weeks while competing -- and winning -- at the Pan-Am Games in Mexico.

"I don't really think about everything at once," she says. "I try to take things one by one, starting with school."

Five challenging classes lie ahead. And this is supposed to be her only day back before leaving again, this time for three weeks to prepare for and compete in the World Championships in Belgium.

"I was concerned about a lot of it because I was only back for one day," she says. "I've been kind of like stressed because I'm going to miss all kinds of work."

At 7:05 a.m., Tasha gets her first taste of what the rest of her academic day holds, stepping into geometry class, held in a modular building on a campus bursting at the seams despite being only 2 years old.

Thirty-seven students are jammed into the room -- and that's two below the average class size at Centennial. Tasha takes her front-row seat, but she won't be there long. She exits to another room to take a makeup exam, a task that uses up most of the rest of the hour.

"I really didn't know what was coming because I was gone so long," she says. "I didn't remember everything (on the quiz), but basically, I had to take it. I don't get all stressed out when I have to take tests."

-- -- --

7:57 a.m.

Tasha exits geometry and makes her way up a stairwell through a throng of students. At last, after 2 1/2 weeks, the friendliest of faces appears.

Ashley Williams, a Centennial cheerleader and perhaps Tasha's best friend, greets her on the steps. They exchange pleasantries and a hug, melting away some of Tasha's anxiety.

"It helps a lot to see friends when you're all stressed," she says. "Usually, when I come back, they're really surprised to see me."

As a peer and longtime friend, Ashley has one of the better perspectives on Tasha's life, particularly on a social level.

"Yeah, she is missing out on some things, but she is also getting a lot more that we don't," Ashley says, alluding to the glamour of world travel and elite-level competition, among other things. "I do feel bad that she can't go to homecoming or football games. She tries to do some of that, and I'd like to be able to see her do more of that.

"Yet I also think it's OK because she's missing it for something she really wants to do. She's not forced into doing it. It's great for her to be able to be so good at what she does."

And Tasha, while aware of what other teens are doing, wouldn't trade for it.

"I know I'm missing some things, but I get to travel all around the world all the time, and I get to represent my country. That's worth more to me than hanging out."

Ashley says Tasha's discipline carries over to a category important to many teen-age girls: boys.

"We talk about boys -- `Hey, he's cute' and stuff like that -- but definitely she knows having a boyfriend is out. And it would be hard anyway because of her schedule. She knows it's what she has to do. A boyfriend is just not a good idea.

"She does go out and have fun, and we go out with guys as a group. She's not totally away from that scene. It's just not about it being a boyfriend/girlfriend situation."

Says Tasha: "When I get older, well, there will be boys your whole life. I'm just taking advantage of what I can do now."

-- -- --

9:56 a.m.

Tasha heads into her fourth-hour class, anatomy and physiology, an honors-level course she says is one of her two favorites. The reason quickly becomes obvious: outgoing teacher Matt Aten.

"He's such a lively teacher," Tasha says. "He moves around a lot and does a lot of different things. He is kind of bouncy, and he's really nice."

Aten is quite familiar with Tasha and the demands of her life. He and his wife live next door to Ashley, and he often sees Tasha when she visits Ashley.

"As a student, she's pleasant, and I think she wants to just fit in," Aten says. "She's treated as a star by the media, her friends ... she just wants to fit in and be a kid."

Indeed, with time spent at major national and international competitions grabbing the spotlight, Tasha says she consciously tries to avoid it at school.

"I don't really want to stand out," she says. "I don't want everyone all the time to be saying, `Oh, my gosh, it's Tasha.' I totally separate school from gymnastics. I feel like I fit in normally."

As for Tasha's life beyond school and gymnastics, Aten and Ashley have similar views.

"Undeniably, I think she's missing out on some of the normal teen-age aspects," he says. "Dating, even being with friends -- just that process of working and maturing with people your own age. She hasn't had that fun of being at that level for a few years. She spends plenty of time with adults, and that's why she's so mature and knows how to handle herself.

"What she gains in return is a lot of important adult attention because she is working so hard. We all need our 15 minutes of glory; she's had far more than 15 minutes. She gets rewarded but puts in all that work. She earns those rewards."

In Aten's view, perhaps the trade-off -- much work, little play -- doesn't balance out. But he recognizes it's not his opinion that counts.

"What's more important is what she thinks," he says.

-- -- --

10:57 a.m.

Tasha rolls into American literature, another of her favorite classes, to finish off the school day. As she does, her parents, Joy Schwikert and Shannon Warren, get busy at home putting together lunch for their daughters. Joy and Shannon work as dealers in the dice pit at Caesars Palace, giving them a flexible schedule that best allows them to guide Tasha and Jordan through their day.

Tasha clearly has learned her strategy of taking things one at a time from her mother, a former professional tennis player.

"I never look further than one step in front of me," Joy says. "I always tell her, `Never look at the big picture until you're done.' She doesn't always listen to me -- kids don't think moms know anything -- but she hasn't looked at the big picture yet."

Shannon and Joy's perspective on both daughters' social outlets differs from that of Ashley and Aten.

"We let them be kids -- every concert, every party they want to go to, they go," Shannon says. "You've got to let them be kids."

Tasha agrees but adds that outside activities must be kept within reason.

And as for boys, well ...

"She knows what's at stake," Shannon says flatly.

Lunch is ready shortly after noon, when Tasha and Jordan arrive home. Both have a little more than an hour before heading to practice. Lunch, not surprisingly, is small and healthy. Tasha has one piece of barbecued chicken, two sprigs of broccoli, some grapes, sliced mangos and cottage cheese.

But Tasha downplays the idea of being on a strict diet, despite her lean, well-defined 110 pounds on a 5-foot-1 1/2-inch frame.

"I sometimes eat bad things, desserts and stuff like that," she says. "It's not like I eat perfect all the time."

As might be expected of teen-age sisters, Tasha and Jordan exchange some verbal jabs. But everyone in the family agrees that the sibling rivalry is much like that of any other household, limited almost entirely to home and petty arguments.

Jordan readily admits her pride in Tasha's achievements but shows true teen-age wisdom in saying what she likes best about her older sister.

"She can drive me around," Jordan says.

-- -- --

1 p.m.

Tasha rises from a 30-minute nap and gets into practice mode. The long hair is pulled up and back, and she wanders into the kitchen to plug in the coffee maker. A few minutes later, she's sipping an iced coffee.

A caffeine pick-me-up, perhaps?

"I just like the way it tastes," she says.

By 1:25, it's back into the car with Jordan for a 35-minute drive to the Gymcats gymnasium in Henderson. Six-plus hours of workouts await with coach and gym owner Cassie Rice, beginning at 2 p.m.

As with every practice, Rice has a one-page, hand-written itinerary of all that Tasha must complete.

The first thing Rice and Tasha discuss comes much to Tasha's chagrin. Travel plans for the World Championships have changed. The original plan was for Tasha to fly to Atlanta on Monday, three days away, then join the team for the flight to Belgium. She would have nearly two weeks to get acclimated before competition began.

But much as it has done to everything else, the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 have disrupted the schedule. Security issues prevent the team from going to Belgium so early. Tasha now will leave Tuesday and instead fly to Houston to spend time with the U.S. team training under national team coordinator Marta Karolyi, wife of legendary coach Bela Karolyi.

Tasha is glad she'll get another day in school, but going to "The Ranch," as the Texas facility often is called, has its drawbacks.

"You are in the middle of nowhere," says Tasha, noting the camp is about 80 minutes outside Houston. "There are too many bugs, only two phone lines. The rooms are really, really small. Workouts are fine, but the rest of the stuff is kind of annoying."

But she doesn't dwell on it, quickly swinging into full practice mode after getting her assignment from Rice.

Tasha is basically on her own from that point, illustrating one of Rice's main strategies: Put the gymnast in charge. Let her use her brain, decide just how hard she wants to work and ultimately determine just how successful she'll be.

"That's the most important thing to teach these kids," says Rice, who has run Gymcats for nine years and was a scholarship gymnast at Oklahoma in the late 1980s. "Many gymnasts fall apart if their coach isn't around. They think only through their coach."

Practice, Rice and Tasha agree, is one of Tasha's few weak points. She thrives on competition.

"I just like competing better, knowing I only get one shot, where in practice I can do it several times," Tasha says.

Rice has no complaint with Tasha's discipline outside the gym. The coach encourages some social outlets but makes it clear that potential effects of such activities -- fatigue after a late-night concert, for instance -- better not show up at the gym.

"You can choose to (go out), but you damn well better come in and have a good workout after that," Rice says. "If it gets past a certain point where it interrupts sleep, coming to the gym or her performance, that's where I have to get involved. Sometimes it happens."

But it's rare, as is the case on this Friday. Tasha wraps up the workout by 8:30 p.m., goes to the locker room to change, then heads to the car with Jordan for the 35-minute drive home.

-- -- --

9:15 p.m.

Home at last. A 15-minute shower ensues, followed by Tasha's first "meal" in more than nine hours: a nectarine and some pineapple.

She then proceeds to one of her favorite pastimes, hopping on the Internet, calling up her AOL account. She beams at having nearly 100 people on her "Buddy List" instant messenger service.

"Somebody (on that list) is almost always online when I am," Tasha says.

Even at 10 p.m. on a Friday night, 10 of Tasha's friends are surfing the Web.

That allows Tasha to spend the next two hours conversing with those she hasn't been able to keep up with lately.

Finally, at midnight, Tasha signs off. The day has been longer in hours than she is old in years, and she's certain to sleep well.

"I sleep really well anywhere, anytime."

Just like an average teen-ager.