Olivia Stratmann '22 Recruiting Profile

From an early age, my goal has been to become a collegiate gymnast. Working towards my goals with gymnastics teammates gives me the motivation and support to persevere in this sport and in my life. Connecting with a group of girls that understand the difficulties of being a student athlete is unique and is something I want to experience in college. I am academically driven and know that my school work is a priority as it will ultimately determine my success in life. 

I have experienced many setbacks during the 2019, 2020, and 2021 seasons, which kept me from reaching my full potential. In November of 2019, I have surgery on my left ankle which put me out of training for approximately six weeks. In December I came back and my coaches and I decided I would start the competition season in January competing level 9 in order to give me time to regain my strength for my level 10 skills. Competitions were going well with success on bars and floor when my season was ended with the COVID quarantine before my state competition. My gym was shut down for greater than three months until mid June. Unfortunately upon returning to the gym, I had an episode of uncontrolled tachycardia and was taken to the ER to stop my racing heart. I was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson White Syndrome and was not allowed to train with full impact unless it was resolved. I was fortunate enough to have a heart procedure on June 30, 2020, which cured my condition and I have not had any further problems. These experiences changed my outlook as I realized how much my sport meant to me and I was grateful for the opportunity to continue training in the gym once again. The lack of consistent training and loss of strength, however, resulted in a MCL tear of my knee in September of 2020 and I was out for eight weeks. I persevered and trained my level 10 skills but did not reach my full potential for competition season. I was determined but sustained a foot injury during the competition season, but continued through pain and competed at state and qualified for regionals. 

Academically, I focused on my challenging work and saw success in my grades and test scores. Since May 2021, I have committed myself to building my strength, staying healthy, and upgrading my skills. I have been training during the summer to prepare for a successful level 10 season my senior year in 2022.