In what is a young person’s sport, Burnaby’s Briannah Tsang has stuck to it longer than most.
Reaching the NCAA championships twice in three years and representing her country – as she will this coming week at the Summer Universiade Games in Taiwan – are incredible points in a journey yet to conclude.
But she concedes the finish line is closing in, and a little welcomed.
“This will likely be my last year of gymnastics, so that’s a whole thing in itself,” said Tsang, entering her fourth and final year at Penn State. “Yeah, basically I have to keep my body healthy…. It’s bittersweet, I’m excited to move on with my life, but I’m also sad to give up a part of me that’s been, it’s been a part of me for so long.”
She has been in the sport since the age of four and been competing at its elite levels for more than a decade. Tsang has competed at nationals, NCAA championships, Olympic trials and international meets with resilience and determination.
The results weren’t always what the 21-year-old had hoped for. The training always demanded a heavy degree of commitment. But there have been rewards, especially in the people she’s met and friends she’s made through the sport.
Her junior year saw its share of highlights, although she modestly reflected on it.
“This past year we did OK as a team but not as well as we liked to,” she said. “We got through and I did make it to nationals, me and a teammate qualified as individuals. I competed in all-around.”
The year began with a great boost by winning the season opener against Bowling Green, Brigham Young and Temple universities. Of the 12 meets her team competed in, the Burnaby Central alumna won 12 individual events and five all-around titles, being named to the All-Big 10 first team for a second consecutive year.
Her season-best score came at the Penn Quad meet, where Tsang won the all-around with a 39.425, taking the vault and floor events. The floor score was a personal-best 9.950, which tied for fifth-best in Penn history.
At the NCAA regionals, she finished fourth in all-around, and advanced to the national championships where she ended up 30th, with an 18th-place mark on the floor exercise.
Getting to represent her country is a special honour that she’s glad to take on, even though it comes at a time when most of her fellow Nittany Lions gymnasts are making final preparations for the university year.
An honour roll student, Tsang has mapped out the next stage after gymnastics through her studies as a bio behavioural science student. She’s looking at going on to med school, having been inspired by her mom’s career as an ER nurse.
“There’s a lot of high-energy, high-stress situations – exactly like my sport,” she said.
In Taiwan, she will have one special keepsake which has followed her through numerous competitions and challenges: a pet rock given to her when she was barely a teen by a friend.
“I’ve brought it with me to all my meets so I will definitely be bringing that. It’s more like something for familiarity… Good luck? I think it has (been),” she said.
The 2017 Summer Universiade runs Aug. 19 to 30th.
