Our next 20 Questions Athlete is one of my personal favorites, she is kind of an “under the radar” athlete, but this young lady has a tremendous amount of talent. Rachel “Red” DeCavitch, of Gym World in Ohio, has high flying bars, huge tumbling and a beam mount that has garnered 4 Yahtzee Award Nominations. Rachel, who excels on the uneven bars, will be part of our Coaches Wired Series coming up here soon; so stay tuned to catch her high flying bars routine with commentary and words of encouragement from her Gym World Coach Jared Nun. So, let’s get to know Rachel a little bit better as she enters into her final season with Gym World and Region 5 Gymnastics before taking off to pursue her collegiate gymnastics career in 2019. As summer comes to an end Rachel will try to swing her way to a 3rd JO National Championships in 2019.
How did you get into gymnastics? How old were you? My dad was a gymnast when he was younger so my parent put me and my brothers in gymnastics. I started when I was five.
What is your favorite event? My favorite event is bars or floor
Favorite Skill to train/compete? My favorite skill is a shaposh on bars
Dream Skill? My dream skill would probably be a shaposh half
What is your favorite part of gymnastics? My favorite part about gymnastics is the 
feeling of when I get a new skill and when the hard work pays off. Also I like that I get to be with my best friends almost everyday.
What college do you plan on attending? I will be attending Kent State University
What is your favorite meet to compete at? Why? My favorite meet is definitely JO Nationals because competing with Region 5 is just so fun and is a great experience.
Biggest accomplishment in gymnastics so far? My biggest accomplishment so far is committing to Kent State on a full ride scholarship.
Who do you most admire in the sport of gymnastics? The person I most admire in gymnastics is probably Aly Raisman
What is your favorite Region 5 Insider Feature or Series? My favorite Region 5 Feature is “Eye on 5”
What is your go to playlist or song before meets? I actually don’t listen to music before meets.
3 Things you could not live without? 3 things I could not live without are 1: my phone 2: a blanket 3: my friends/family
If you could be any animal, what animal would you be and why? If I could be an animal I would for sure be a sloth because I sleep ALL the time!
5 Most Important or Must have Items in your gym bag? The 5 most important 
items in my gym bag are 1: deoderant 2: lotion 3: extra hair ties 4: phone charger 5: my grips/wrist guards
Do you have any pre-meet rituals or superstitions? I visualize my routines before I start
What do you like to do outside of Gymnastics? Outside of gymnastics I like to hang with my friends, snuggle with my cat, sleep
Most embarrassing meet moment or gymnastics moment? Once when I was younger I forgot my floor routine. I got so scared I just stood in the middle of the floor and cried until the music stopped.
If you weren’t a gymnast, what sport would you do or try? If I was not a gymnast I would play soccer. I used to play it when I was younger and I remember really enjoying it.
What is the most valuable piece of advice or wisdom your coach has given you? The most valuable advice my coach Mr. Ganim gave me was to not let your fears control you. Sometimes fear is good but not when it is controlling you from reaching your goals.
Bonus Question:Tell me something interesting about yourself…. Something interesting about myself is that I have never broken a bone
Check out Rachels JO Nationals Gallery Below
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