Makayla White finished ninth overall in her level nine category in the 11-13 age group at the Gymnastics Canada national championship. She also won the award for Best Floor Choreography. (Louise Demers)

By Dan Marshall

Well Choreographed

Nanaimo gymnast earns top ten results at Canadian Championships

Jul 18, 2021 | 6:20 AM

NANAIMO – Makayla White has earned her place as one of Canada’s top up and coming gymnasts.

The 12-year-old finished with an all around ninth place at the 2021 Canadian Championships.

Her results included sixth place finishes in vault, bars and floor and a ninth over performance on the beam.

White was also named the winner of the Sherry Hawko Award for Best Floor Choreography.

Louise Demers, who is one of Makayla’s coaches, was encouraged by the results at her first online appearance at nationals.

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“Makayla is also a dancer, so she really shines when it comes to choreography and dance skills. She also has a great affinity for beam, having a good balance of fearlessness, strength, flexibility and gracefulness.”

White competes as a level nine gymnast which is one shy of the top proficiency level in the sport.

Demers said she will to train at the same level next year in order to gain more confidence in her skills.

“Attending the Canadian Championships next year in person will allow her to rise to the challenge. We will also be adding more difficulty to her routines in preparation for level ten which she will move into when ready.”

The routine for Best Floor Choreography was not just a win for White but for Nanaimo Gymnastics instructor Anna Mataganova.

Demers said White had worked with same the choreography for two years.

“This allows an athlete to perfect the routine and really make it shine. We are very lucky as a club to have Anna working on most of our routines. She truly captured Makayla’s style and expertise.”

Most of White’s routines in the last year and a half have been filmed and judged later because of COVID-19 protocols and the Canadian Championships were no different.

She was filmed from the Nanaimo Gymnastics School on two separate devices while a judge watched over the whole procedure on Zoom.

Then her routine was sent off for judging with the results posted online a short time later.

The official dates for the competition were June 25-27 with the awards and certificates sent out to the athletes in mid July.

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