Breakfast of Champions Spotlight: Portrait of a Champ

July 17, 2013 · 0 Comments

By Sarah Smith
Evolution Gymnastics

This summer, Evolution Gymnastics Aurora Men’s Artistic (MAG) gymnast Brendan Canning is training twelve hours a week in preparation for the next season of Provincial-level competition. 2013-07-17-13

Just shy of his 15th birthday and six years into his gymnastics career, Brendan is riding a wave of physical maturation that is helping him succeed in a sport that requires above-average strength, power, flexibility, agility, spacial awareness, and balance. Now that’s cross-training!

Brendan says he was attracted to gymnastics because of the increasingly difficult progression of the skills. In gymnastics, it’s never boring, because once you master one skill, there’s a more complex version waiting. Plus MAG athletes train & compete on six different apparatus: Floor Exercise, Parallel Bars, High Bar, Rings, Vault & Pommel Horse.

Brendan credits his “excellent & knowledgeable” coaches (currently Sean Heaslip and Warren Bisbee) for teaching him the benefits of constructive criticism, and as the current “senior” in his program, he now provides this same kind of feedback to the younger boys training with him.

During the 2012/2013 season, Brendan earned medals at every competition he attended, including a gold medal on Rings & a silver medal All-Around. At Ontario Championships, Brendan was awarded the silver medal on High Bar & Rings, and a bronze medal on Parallel Bars.

Even so, his favourite event is Floor, where he is now conquering a variety of complex tumbling lines, including saltos (somersaults in the air).
Following in the footsteps of Alex Pritchard-Oh & Kieran Sutch, it’s now Brendan’s turn to lead and inspire Evolution’s growing team of MAG athletes.